Warbird Information Exchange

I received this in an email today, and thought that I'd pass it along:

Here's today's shots from the Saskatoon control tower as they gave us acouple of passes, then went to Winnipeg.
There's only two of them still flying in the world and today one of them will fly over Saskatoon.
The Avro Lancaster, one of the most famous bombers of World War 2 will
enter Saskatoon air space around 11am this morning, with a low fly past at
the Airport and then circle around and above the city before leaving for Ontario.
Thousands of Canadian aircrew served with the RCAF and the Lancaster Squadrons.

Over 4 hundred Lancaster MK X's were built in Canada and shipped overseas for flying duty.
And throughout the entire world, only two still fly today, one in England and one in Canada.

The bomber is one hundred and two feet long and just under 70 feet wide.
It can reach top speeds of 2 hundred and 87 miles and hour and has four Rolls Royce Merlin Engines.

The fly past is a tribute pass to our veterans and a farewell salute tothe Cameco Canada Remembers Airshow.

_________________
If God had wanted man to fly behind a flat motor, Pratt Whitney would've built one.

fantastic pictures! Thank you for sharing them.

I love seeing that old bird fly. Too bad she wasn't able to visit British Columbia on her nearly all the way across the country trip this summer.

She must have sounded wonderful going by, eh?

Cheers,

David

Great shots, thanks for sharing them.

I am happy to say I have seen 50% of the worlds flying lancs Saw her in Reading PA a few years back.

_________________
Share your story: Rutgers Oral History Archive http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/

Is that a... no wait... couldn't be... it sure looks like it... dare I say it... a Shell Oil sticker???? Oh my god somebody call the label-nazis quick before the public starts thinking that Lancasters went to war with Shell stickers on the tail. Don't even get me started on that Victoria Cross sticker on the nose.


Oh wait, we can overlook that because the airplane doesn't belong to the CAF.

Seriously, kidding aside, I love the Lanc and thanks for sharing the pics.

- Warbirdcrew the pot-stirrer

_________________
real airplanes have round engines

If it's 102' long and just under 70' wide (sic) they put it back together wrong, should be t'other way round.

Great photos.

Terrific photos, thanks for posting!

Looks like a LOT of dihedral for a not-heavily laden Lanc. Guess that's just the compression effect of the modern telephoto.

Very good dhFan. Maybe they just fly it sideways?

Seriously though, the press coverage in Canada of the Lanc tour, Hawk One, and the many other events across the Great White North (TM) in their Centenary year is a lesson for all of us on how to raise the profile of aviation history and heritage and take the aircraft to the public.

Well done the Canucks! (Where's the Poutine emoticon? )

_________________
James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

Good gosh, those are fantastic photos of a beautiful machine!

Thanks,
Scott

I hadn't noticed the dihedral but since you've mentioned it, it does look like a lot.

Maybe the shot was taken at the bottom of her LOOP???!!!! HAH!!!!

I absolutely love the LANCASTER.., one of my top three favorite aircraft!!

_________________
S.

speaking of dihedral because of load..,

look at curve on these poor Hamiltons on this fully loaded -29 heading for the Empire!!!

_________________
S.

Nice Pics! Tower, this is Ghost Rider requesting a flyby!!!

_________________

Aviation Illustration Website
http://shepartstudio.com/illustration/

i like how the photographer stuck his name and date on those.., you have to look hard!!!!

_________________
S.

Very subtle! Easy to smudge out IF you notice it, but if a lazy, internet, photo-pirate, you might not notice or bother!!!

_________________

Aviation Illustration Website
http://shepartstudio.com/illustration/

From my Canadian friend who flew Halifaxes...

You'll notice the Squadron letters on the a/c; - VR - A.
Those were the letters on the a/c in which Andrew Mynarski, VC, served. Andrew was a Winnipeg boy and, briefly as poss., this is his story.

On a night raid (target I've forgotten) they were attacked and severely damaged by a Night Fighter. Andrew was the Mid-Upper Gunner on that aircraft.

When told to 'Bail Out" he climbed down out of his turret and made for the Escape Hatch. As he was about to exit he saw that his Rear Gunner was trapped in his turret. With the engines out, he'd lost the ability to rotate his Turret and when he'd tried to rotate it using the Crank, the crank had broken so he was "Trapped".

There was Hydraulic Fluid all over the a/c floor and On Fire. Andrew, his clothing also soaked in Hyd. Fluid, went back to try to get his friend out of that turret. He used the Axe and everything he could to try to get him free and finally, his friend said "Get out! Save yourself! I'm stuck!" - or words to that effect.

Finally, Andrew, his clothing aflame, went to the Escape Hatch,
turned around, snapped to Attention and Saluted his friend.

Then, he bailed out.

I needn't try to tell you what would happen if you left an aircraft, doing 140 to 160 mph and dived, flaming, into the night skies. I cannot imagine the torment he endured on that downward fall... but it must have been terrible.

His descent was seen by French folk and they ran to rescue him but he died of his burns about two days later. There's a very important kicker to this story........

This flaming aircraft continued on its way, on a fairly steady downward course and eventually crashed. However, the Rear Turret broke away from the fuselage and tumbled along the ground with Art Brophy, the Rear Gunner, trapped inside.

Art was, eventually, found and released from his turret, alive and well > > more or less......... and of course, told the story of Andrew's selfless attempt to save him.

Accordingly, Andrew was awarded, Posthumously, the Victoria Cross. Now you know the rest of the story and the reason the Canadian Warplane Heritage has marked their Lanc with Andrew's aircrft insignia..

There's one last kicker to this story and it is TRUE.

When Art Brophy removed his leather helmet, after crashing in his Rear Turret,

every hair on his head came off with his helmet.

It has since grown back and I believe he's still alive but am not certain of that. Quite a story - Eh?
I thought you'd enjoy readng about that - and it's all absolutely true. Slainte

They ran it by Ober.......