Vera is heading home
BLACKPOOL, United Kingdom – The pilot taking Canada’s last flying Second World War heavy bomber home across the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday has “absolute confidence” in the 69-year-old Avro Lancaster’s ability to make the journey after borrowing an engine from the Royal Air Force to replace one that had an oil leak that left the Canadian aircraft trailing smoke at the end of a flight earlier this month.
“If I was not 100 per cent confident, we would not attempt this. I don’t want anything happening to Vera,” the pilot, 68-year-old Leon Evans, said, referring to the four-engine propeller airplane by her nickname. “We are not going to put it into conditions that could compromise that safety. . . . We will not run the risk of landing on runways that are ice-covered or with severe crosswinds or low (cloud) ceilings.”
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