Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Bigron on 14 June 2014, 15:09:41
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After seeing the fly-past overhead today, I got to thinking about that magnificent aircraft, the Lancaster Bomber.
I Googled and was surprised to learn that they built over 7 THOUSAND of them! And now, sadly, there are a mere two airworthy planes left.
I also learned that the other one, presently in Canada, will be flying over to us here in early August, for a unique, never to be repeated celebration/remembrance display.
It wasn't clear where this display is to take place: does anybody know?
Ron.
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Still to be decided iirc
I think the Canadian Lancaster was last over here in the late 70's :-\
Painted the white of there costal command I believe.
There was rumors of both of them getting together in the air for pictures :y
Also they was trying to set up a photo shoot with the B17 Flying Fortress too
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Thanks for the additional info, TG: if you find out any more before me, please let me know, and of course I will reciprocate if I know any more.
It's a shame that these terrific planes had to be created for destructive purposes, but they did help to save our country.....
Ron.
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There's two fully airworthy lamcs in the world, the Canadians have a 2nd undergoing a refurb at the moment, there's also the one at linc's air musem'jusr jayne' needs an caa certificate to fly, so there's the possibility of 4 soon.
both lancs are doing a tour this year in England, starts end july finishing august.
www.bbmf.co.uk (http://www.bbmf.co.uk)
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That's great news, BG - FOUR in service, potentially!
Now I may be about to make a fool of myself (quite used to that, really...), but I am sure that, a decade or two ago there used to be a Lancaster operated commercially, giving (expensive) tourist flights along the south coast in the Bournemouth/Weymouth area.
Am I going mad? I'm sure I didn't dream it.....
Ron.
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Think that was a shackleton, or a even Lincoln(even rarer) :)
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Think that was a shackleton, or a even Lincoln(even rarer) :)
There's a Lincoln at RAF Cosford but that's not air worthy :y
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Saw the Lancaster, with a pair of Spitfires and a Dakota in formation over Normandy a few times last week. A sight to behold, and the engine noise is so distinctive
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I'm not jealous, TB, I'm not; honestly I'm NOT......
:-X
Ron.
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Saw Lancaster and Spitfire at Bournmath few years ago, the sound and sight is just magnificent!
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A few years back, when Weymouth had an air display as part of their Carnival celebrations, I happened to be on the pier, at the sea end, when a Vulcan bomber came out of nowhere, at amazingly high speed and dead low.
Good job there was Marks and Spencers nearby!
;D
Ron.
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The one thing no-one can now never see, but can only imagine, is Lancaster's taking off with either 12,000 lb Tallboy (854 dropped) or, even more impressive, 22,000 lb Grand Slam (41 dropped) bombs. Just think what the engine noise would have been.
No other Allied, or indeed Axis, bomber could equal this task. :y
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Yes, the sound, Lizzie!
I didn't realise today was the Trooping, but when I was sitting quietly at my emails here, I heard this sound and immediately thought "That's a Lancaster: what on earth is that doing here!"
Nothing else sounds like it nor flies as slowly or low, and to hear one flying for real fully laden, as you said, must have been magical.
Another sight/sound that impresses me is when a steam locomotive JUST starts off: no revving and farting, just a sigh of steam and it moves away with panache and dignity, no matter how many carriages it has behind it.
Ron.
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Yes, the sound, Lizzie!
I didn't realise today was the Trooping, but when I was sitting quietly at my emails here, I heard this sound and immediately thought "That's a Lancaster: what on earth is that doing here!"
Nothing else sounds like it nor flies as slowly or low, and to hear one flying for real fully laden, as you said, must have been magical.
Another sight/sound that impresses me is when a steam locomotive JUST starts off: no revving and farting, just a sigh of steam and it moves away with panache and dignity, no matter how many carriages it has behind it.
Ron.
Ah, now for me I love the sound of a light footed Merchant Navy or West Country loco pulling away with a heavy train and slipping on damp rails, then regaining it's grip with the power of the engine, and skill of the foot plate crew, at their best. Other loco's are also impressive when briefly slipping, and there is a great recording of the ex-LMS pacific Princess Elizabeth "suffering" from this whilst coming back with very obvious blasts from her exhaust. Wonderful!! 8) 8) 8) 8) :-* :-* :-*
You see I just love loud, powerful engines! ;)
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Spitfire flypast tomorrow over Arnold. Hope it follows the same route as last year, straight over MIW's back garden. Seemed so low I could touch it. Never forget the sound of that engine.
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Think that was a shackleton, or a even Lincoln(even rarer) :)
Almost certainly not a Shack, as if so it would have been common knowledge in our Association. :y
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"Shackeng", I'm getting more confused by the minute; unlikely to be a Lincoln due to its rarity, you say no to Shackleton - could it have been a Lancaster, after all?
My memory has it as definitely sounding like a Lancaster - can anyone mistake the sound - and it was a large 4-engined job.
And Lizzie, I'm with you all the way there; I have a particular fondness for the Princess Elizabeth, too as I had a Triang train set with that loco when a small boy.
Ron.
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For the Canadian Lanc - something I posted in another place a few months back. As far as I can find out, the schedule is...
Aug 4th - Leaves Hamilton, Ontario, routing Goose Bay Labrador Canada, Narsarsuaq Greenland, and Keflavik Iceland.
Aug 8th - Arrives in the UK (location unknown) - likely to be RAF Coningsby IMHO, but could be Humberside Airport.
Aug 8th-14th - Servicing (by BBMF) plus airshow training (with BBMF).
Aug 14th - Public displays start.
The plane will be offically based at Humberside Airport for the duration of the stay. The airshows it'll be displaying at haven't been released AFAIK, but you can see a fairly complete list of public events at the bottom of this page http://www.scramble.nl/show-dates/europe/country
Most of these locations are smaller seaside airshows, and I've no idea how they'll find the money to pay for a Lanc to attend, but you never know. It's also likely to do some flybys at locations associated with the RCAF during WW2.
Probably worth keeping an eye on these two forums/threads if you're interested.
http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthre ... 14-UK-tour
http://www.warplane.com/
http://www.raf.mod.uk/bbmf/displayinfo/
Obviously, servicability and any number of legal, CAA and Health and Safety issues could still scupper things. They are supposed to be doing passenger rides, but they ain't cheap, and are probably all sold out.
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Its going to do a lot of fly past around old RCAF airfields, hence why its going to humberside airport, Lincolnshire was bomber country, there is a list of provisional dates on the Canadian air museum website, also some dates on the bbmf pages. :),will get some fly past around here as were pathfinder area, both Lancaster's are doing little gransden airshow, and are scheduled also to over fly around here. :y
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Its going to do a lot of fly past around old RCAF airfields, hence why its going to humberside airport, Lincolnshire was bomber country,
Yes and no. The reason for basing at Humberside is that it is a civilian airport with the facilities required for conducting commercial passenger flights - X-Ray machines, check in desks etc. All the normal airline rules apply to the Lanc once they try and fly passenger's in it. RAF Coningsby doesn't have the facilities to handle commercal flights, but does have the facilities to service it, and the nearest commercial airport to Coningsby is.....
there is a list of provisional dates on the Canadian air museum website, also some dates on the bbmf pages. :),will get some fly past around here as were pathfinder area, both Lancaster's are doing little gransden airshow, and are scheduled also to over fly around here. :y
Yes, but you'll get better and more up to date information from the "Aircraft Spotters" forums that I linked to, plus details of the 'non-public' operations. Both Lanc's are due to flypast on both days at Carfest South for instance.
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List of dates here
www.airshows.org.uk (http://www.airshows.org.uk) :)
and here www.warplane.com/lancaster-2014-uktour.aspx (http://www.warplane.com/lancaster-2014-uktour.aspx) :)
plus the flypast's at ex-Canadian airfields which are tba.
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With both the Lancaster's, and the Vulcan's, public air displays I try hard to let my grand children see these wonderful machines flying and taking full opportunity of the event.
We know that time is running out for these historic aircraft to remain in an airworthy, insurable, condition and the sad, very sad, time will come when they will remain permanently grounded :'( :'( :'( :'( Until then my grand children will have a running commentary on what these planes represent, their history, and how they are relevant in the age they now live in, guaranteeing the freedom we now enjoy. :y
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Yes, the sound, Lizzie!
I didn't realise today was the Trooping, but when I was sitting quietly at my emails here, I heard this sound and immediately thought "That's a Lancaster: what on earth is that doing here!"
Nothing else sounds like it nor flies as slowly or low, and to hear one flying for real fully laden, as you said, must have been magical.
Another sight/sound that impresses me is when a steam locomotive JUST starts off: no revving and farting, just a sigh of steam and it moves away with panache and dignity, no matter how many carriages it has behind it.
Ron.
Ah, now for me I love the sound of a light footed Merchant Navy or West Country loco pulling away with a heavy train and slipping on damp rails, then regaining it's grip with the power of the engine, and skill of the foot plate crew, at their best. Other loco's are also impressive when briefly slipping, and there is a great recording of the ex-LMS pacific Princess Elizabeth "suffering" from this whilst coming back with very obvious blasts from her exhaust. Wonderful!! 8) 8) 8) 8) :-* :-* :-*
You see I just love loud, powerful engines! ;)
Its just a pity those dam Southern region Locos were are so dam inefficient!
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Yes, the sound, Lizzie!
I didn't realise today was the Trooping, but when I was sitting quietly at my emails here, I heard this sound and immediately thought "That's a Lancaster: what on earth is that doing here!"
Nothing else sounds like it nor flies as slowly or low, and to hear one flying for real fully laden, as you said, must have been magical.
Another sight/sound that impresses me is when a steam locomotive JUST starts off: no revving and farting, just a sigh of steam and it moves away with panache and dignity, no matter how many carriages it has behind it.
Ron.
Ah, now for me I love the sound of a light footed Merchant Navy or West Country loco pulling away with a heavy train and slipping on damp rails, then regaining it's grip with the power of the engine, and skill of the foot plate crew, at their best. Other loco's are also impressive when briefly slipping, and there is a great recording of the ex-LMS pacific Princess Elizabeth "suffering" from this whilst coming back with very obvious blasts from her exhaust. Wonderful!! 8) 8) 8) 8) :-* :-* :-*
You see I just love loud, powerful engines! ;)
Its just a pity those dam Southern region Locos were are so dam inefficient!
Ah, you mean those Bulleid's original "Spam Can" Pacific's. Built during the war and after they were designed for multi-traffic use so as to gain governmental approval. Bulleid actually designed and built these engines with maximum power output, but light-weight in structure. The boiler was (and still is) a magnificent steamer, with a design 280 psi, the highest of any British loco. The Nominal Tractive Effort of the Merchant Navy's (introduced from 1941) at 37,500 lb's, and with Tractive effort per ton of engine weight at a splendid 396 lb's, was better than any of the other Pacific's of both the LNER and LMS, although the LMS Duchess did produce 40,000 lb total tractive effort. The total tonnage at 94.75 tons was the lightest out of the A3's, A4's and Duchess classes.
No, I suspect Mark the "inefficiencies" that you refer to was the massive enclosed 40 gallon oil bath that contained the chain driven valve gear, along with central crankshaft big end, which often spilt oil everywhere, created fires, and was in the way if the running gear in the bath broke and needed urgent repairs. Engines could break down, and there is on record instances of the big end failing, unheard by the footplate crew due to the oil bath silencing it, and suddenly breaking through the bottom of the latter. One failure also occurred right in the centre of the level crossing at Brockenhurst which led to hours of traffic delays, both on the railway and on the highway, until a breakdown crew from Eastleigh arrived and cut away the offending parts!
No, Bulleid was way ahead of his time, and was a maverick in the mould of Brunel, but the oil bath etc., was one step too far and it was only when all but 50 of the Merchant Navy's and West Country's were rebuilt from 1956 that the real worth of these engines could be witnessed, although by then it was too late. However, many were recorded doing 100 mph+ right up to final withdrawal in 1967.
Great engines, but originally with big flaws. ;)
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...........................and to show people who don't know, this is a Merchant Navy rebuilt Pacific:
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/lizziefreeman/y1pk176idNrUKOnESud9OLqOb-4lRR53NkA.jpg)
.....and in original form:
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/lizziefreeman/download.jpg)
I apologise for hijacking this Lancaster thread, but both machines were built during the war and both assisted the war effort. (That's my excuse anyway!) ;) ;)
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...........................and to show people who don't know, this is a Merchant Navy rebuilt Pacific:
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/lizziefreeman/y1pk176idNrUKOnESud9OLqOb-4lRR53NkA.jpg)
.....and in original form:
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/lizziefreeman/download.jpg)
I apologise for hijacking this Lancaster thread, but both machines were built during the war and both assisted the war effort. (That's my excuse anyway!) ;) ;)
I used to have "Winston Churchill "in hornby form with working smoke,wish I still had it ::)
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think the Lancaster thread has gone off topic..
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Lizzie, since when has anyone needed to have an excuse or even apologise for showing pictures of such beautiful locos?
True, the Lancaster thread was mine, but you can subvert it any day with interruptions like that - and from such a knowledgeable lady!
Ron.
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Lizzie, since when has anyone needed to have an excuse or even apologise for showing pictures of such beautiful locos?
True, the Lancaster thread was mine, but you can subvert it any day with interruptions like that - and from such a knowledgeable lady!
Ron.
Thanks Ron! :y :y :y :y :y :y :-*
I love the plane and train products of the late 1930s / early 1940s. They had style in those days and knew how to create machines to do the job in the UK. Where has that ability gone?
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...........................and to show people who don't know, this is a Merchant Navy rebuilt Pacific:
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/lizziefreeman/y1pk176idNrUKOnESud9OLqOb-4lRR53NkA.jpg)
.....and in original form:
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/lizziefreeman/download.jpg)
I apologise for hijacking this Lancaster thread, but both machines were built during the war and both assisted the war effort. (That's my excuse anyway!) ;) ;)
I used to have "Winston Churchill "in hornby form with working smoke,wish I still had it ::)
My eldest brother had one of them; really fascinating!! :-* :-* 8)
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While I never flew in a Lanc, I have 4000 odd hours in Shacks, and I have had a taxi in the Lanc at East Kirkby airfield owned by the Panton brothers, and I have to say that the Shack, not renowned for its crew comforts, was positively palatial compared to the Lanc.
While taxying round standing in the F/Es position, I tried to imagine what it must have been like to operate one to Berlin and back, harried all the way either by night fighters or flying through flak, I could not imagine the fear that must have attacked all of those brave aircrew.
Wartime Bomber Command, I salute you. :y
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While I never flew in a Lanc, I have 4000 odd hours in Shacks, and I have had a taxi in the Lanc at East Kirkby airfield owned by the Panton brothers, and I have to say that the Shack, not renowned for its crew comforts, was positively palatial compared to the Lanc.
While taxying round standing in the F/Es position, I tried to imagine what it must have been like to operate one to Berlin and back, harried all the way either by night fighters or flying through flak, I could not imagine the fear that must have attacked all of those brave aircrew.
Wartime Bomber Command, I salute you. :y
.........and knowing there was every chance that you would not come back, and if you made this tour, coming back to empty seats in the mess hall, there was always the next trip.............oh bloody hell!!!
The word "brave" hardly covers it!!!?