View Full Version : Lancaster Number 2
BBC News today talks of a second Lanc, currently 'cleared' taxying and soon hopefully to fly, having been restored by dedicated enthusiasts in Lincolnshire.
I have looked back two pages in search here and cannot find a thread on this. If there is one, can someone 'refresh it' to the top please and I'll 'kill' this one, otherwise let's use this one for promoting a fantastic achievement? True dedication, and assuming they get it airborne, a wonderful success. Even if not, well done to the Panton brothers and helpers.
BBC News - Pensioners restore rare WWII bomber (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20886684)
India Four Two
2nd Jan 2013, 08:19
BOAC,
I'm sure you knew this, but it would actually be Number 3.
Number 2 is here CANADIAN WARPLANE HERITAGE (http://www.warplane.com/pages/aircraft.html)
and something I didn't know until today, you can actually go for a flight in it!
However, never mind the number, more power to Panton brothers.
deltapapa
2nd Jan 2013, 08:26
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/406139-just-jane-fly-again-two-years.html
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/334702-another-flying-lancaster.html
I thought there was even more up to date threads than this - it has certainly been a current topic on some other fora.
If you have chance to get to East Kirkby and see the museum I would whole heartedly recommend it.
I'm sure you knew this, but it would actually be Number 3. - indeed and I was shamefacedly being 'parochial' (probably not quite the right word....):)
Edited for incompetence
4Greens
2nd Jan 2013, 12:30
Just watched the news item. Its cleared for taxying and you can pay for a ride. Money goes towards preservation. Will go myself as soon as I can.
DaveReidUK
2nd Jan 2013, 13:10
soon hopefully to flyWishful thinking, I fear.
Could well be - are you in a position to judge?
HEATHROW DIRECTOR
2nd Jan 2013, 13:27
BOAC . Great news. Bet you'd fancy having that on your ticket?
nacluv
2nd Jan 2013, 14:12
Just watched the news item. Its cleared for taxying and you can pay for a ride. Money goes towards preservation. Will go myself as soon as I can.It has been taxying, and taking passengers on those taxying runs, for years already...
Bet you'd fancy having that on your ticket? - yes, I'd love it, but the employment prospects are somewhat limited.:)
Mike7777777
2nd Jan 2013, 17:08
Is money the only barrier to flight?
Yes plus the CAA! There is another thread running on Mil which suggests it may need a new main spar (expensive) and I hear from another source that the a/c had languished outside RAF Scampton as a gate guardian for a long time. It does, however, look LOVELY and I wish them all the best of luck. A superb effort.
Mike7777777
2nd Jan 2013, 17:27
What barriers_to_flight can the CAA erect?
xtypeman
2nd Jan 2013, 18:00
Hide behind EASA
gruntie
2nd Jan 2013, 18:01
Just realised that I had an internal tour of her, at the Biggin Hill Airshow, must have been 1967 or 1968. She was marked as HA-P then. They had all their coloured brochures lined up on an internal longeron, retained by a long length of string: as I entered I managed to tug on it and the whole lot ended up on the floor. Happy days...........
DaveReidUK
2nd Jan 2013, 18:35
are you in a position to judge?Well I'd love to be proved wrong.
But the BBC's confusion between "pristine" and "airworthy", plus the fact that it hasn't actually flown since 1970, would suggest that "soon hopefully to fly" is a more than a tad optimistic.
PAXboy
2nd Jan 2013, 19:11
DaveReidUK... is a more than a tad optimistic.I would agree but the BBC journo has no means of verifying this - expect by paying money to an 'expert' to give their opinion.
Recently, I participated in an interview with a reputable newspaper about my specialist field. The journo reported me accurately. Just as she also reported what other people in the field told her - that I knew to be wrong. Not badly wrong or misleadingly wrong, just not the whole story.
That's modern journalism. MONEY. It does not matter if it's print or electronic, folks are not prepared to pay for the product so there is less money to pay for the product to be made.
Happily, if this Lanc never gets airborne, it has fewer ways to crash ... (Sorry)
deltapapa
3rd Jan 2013, 08:11
This link
Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre (http://www.lincsaviation.co.uk/about/NX611-Just-Jane-Return-to-Flight.htm)
shows they have been gathering spares for a number of years and they always said they wouldn't plan to start any restoration until they knew they would have all the spares required. They received their 4th airworthy engine just before Christmas.
I wish them all the best!
chevvron
3rd Jan 2013, 10:41
Whatever happened to G-ASXX?
DaveReidUK
3rd Jan 2013, 11:13
Whatever happened to G-ASXX? Er, it ended up in Lincolnshire, where a couple of blokes are planning to restore it to airworthy condition. :)
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/504178-lancaster-number-2-a.html
ShyTorque
3rd Jan 2013, 11:40
It seems the CAA are taking it seriously enough...
GINFO Search Results | Aircraft Register | Operations and Safety (http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=60&pagetype=65&appid=1&mode=detailnosummary&fullregmark=ASXX)
Proplinerman
3rd Jan 2013, 18:05
"I hear from another source that the a/c had languished outside RAF Scampton as a gate guardian for a long time."
I thought the a/c came over from service with the Aeronavale in about 1966 and then ended up languishing at Squire's Gate for some years, in the care of a company called Reflectaire, if my memory serves me right. I had the good fortune to see and photograph her at Squire's Gate in 1973:
ScanImage 2e | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48975048@N06/5671082968/)
I've posted a link to this photo here before, but thought I might as well do it again, as the topic has just revived.
Did the a/c become the Gate guardian at Scampton after its time at Squire's Gate?
DaveReidUK
3rd Jan 2013, 18:38
Did the a/c become the Gate guardian at Scampton after its time at Squire's Gate?Yes, it spent 10 years or so on the Scampton gate:
http://www.abpic.co.uk/images/images/1156215M.jpg
sharksandwich
6th Jan 2013, 23:02
a bit more:Lancaster bomber to fly as tribute to a lost brother - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/9782389/Lancaster-bomber-to-fly-as-tribute-to-a-lost-brother.html)
Proplinerman
7th Jan 2013, 09:28
There was another Lancaster in Britain in the 1970s-and it was flown in. This was G-BCOH, which came across the Atlantic to join Sir William Robertson's magnificent collection of aircraft at Strathallan. I was fortunate enough to see and photograph her there in 1976: Lancaster at Strathallan Sept 1976 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48975048@N06/8353966115/in/photostream)
DaveReidUK
7th Jan 2013, 09:54
Lancaster bomber to fly as tribute to a lost brother - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/9782389/Lancaster-bomber-to-fly-as-tribute-to-a-lost-brother.html)
Interesting observation in the feedback to the Telegraph article, saying that the public can pay to fly in the Canadian Lancaster. Current cost is, I believe, $2500 per head for an hour's flight, with a minimum of 5 pax per trip, which I guess provides a useful contribution towards the cost of keeping it flying.
I hope, though, that the Panton brothers aren't banking on being able to do that. If NX611/G-ASXX does return to flight, they will find that there's a big difference between charging for taxy rides, as they do at present, and getting a C of A that would allow them to fly fare-paying passengers.
The Canadians get round that by claiming the fare is actually a subscription to the museum, but I can't see the CAA or EASA turning a blind eye to that.