Originally Posted by
Wensleydale
Surely the BBMF Lancaster still flies with a flight engineer? I know many Sentry FEs that filled the post on BBMF.
All of the Flight Engineers have long since retired, but there are some Air Engineers left
Yes, although they may use the Co-Pilot in future to monitor the engines and keep the fuel balanced in the tanks. In 2019 there were just 30 WSOp (A Eng) left - source:
https://assets.publishing.service.go...2020.01215.pdf
over 53% of them have less than 5 years to serve. Looking at the stats then <6% (ie. all 2 of them!) are aged between 40-44 in 2019. I think the last were trained in about 2004 - so if they were then they might be early 40s (all 2 of them). If the BBMF can find the AVGAS 100LL replacement to fly the fleet in the future, that is - there are other things other than a paucity of Air Engineers that are likely to see the fleet no longer flying at some point unless a viable alternative fuel can be found:
https://www.shell.com/business-custo...-30071515.html