Lancaster bombers to fly together on UK summer tour

Lancaster bombers to fly together on UK summer tour

More Bomber Command commemoration news now, and this one is exciting almost beyond words (well, I'll try anyway)!

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight has been thrilling airshow crowds and remembrance parades around the country for decades and the undisputed jewel in its crown is the Avro Lancaster bomber PA474.  Joining the Flight in 1973 it has become a much-loved feature; one of only two airworthy examples left in the world it is highly valued in its own right.

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Avro Lancaster Mk X FM213 "Mynarski Memorial"
of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

The other Lanc in flying condition - FM213 - performs a similar office for the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Ontario, having been rescued from the scrapheap by The Royal Canadian Legion in 1978 (and restored to airworthiness by 1988).  A familiar sight on the North American display circuits the Canadian-built FM213 was, like PA474, completed just too late to see service in World War II - spending 20 years with the RCAF's Maritime Air Command Search & Rescue division.

Canada's Lancaster bomber to cross Atlantic for U.K. tour

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Avro Lancaster B I PA747 "City of Lincoln" of the BBMF

Now in a series of special one-off events FM213 and PA474 are scheduled to meet in the skies of Britain this summer in what is rightly being billed as a "once-in-a-lifetime event".  For the first time in 60 years two Avro Lancasters will fly together over two weeks in August (including, I note, my birthday - hmmnn, now there's an idea...!).

The CWHM will fly its Lancaster, in stages, across the Atlantic to meet up with the BBMF at RAF Coningsby.  That in itself is more than worthy of comment, since a Lancaster has not undertaken an Atlantic crossing since 1975 and we should remember that we are talking about a near 70-year-old machine here!  Just that flight alone will be testament to the aircraft's durability and the hard work of the museum engineers who work strenuously to keep this wonderful aeroplane flyable (the same can be said, of course, for PA474 and the BBMF).

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Avro Lancaster B VII NX611 "Just Jane"
of the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre

Once FM213 has made it across and is checked over a number of displays and events are planned for that second fortnight in August.  Flypasts with the BBMF will commence on the 14th August with a series of as-yet unspecified shows to follow.  A tour of the country seems to be suggested; hopefully we shall know more nearer the time.  A visit to the taxiing Lanc undergoing restoration in Lincolnshire, perhaps (three of them, albeit on the ground, would surely be a sight to see)?  Hopefully a show near you will see both bombers in the air together.  Furthermore if you live near the Humberside Airport and have £3,500 going spare you can even pay to have a flight in one of the Lancasters (£7,000 for a cockpit seat), which are due to take place on the 18th-20th and 26th-27th August.

All-in-all then this sounds like an absolutely amazing opportunity and a fantastic way to commemorate the numerous martial anniversaries that abound this year (WWI 100th, WWII 75th, Bomber Command etc.).  I very much hope to get a chance to see the two Lancs in formation together some time, somewhere, this August.  Watch and listen to the footage at the top of this post, then try to imagine two (or even three if NX611 is involved!) instead of one - what a beautiful sight (and sound!) that will be!

Work starts in £15m plan to get Concorde flying

Work starts in £15m plan to get Concorde flying

One of the greatest Anglo-French engineering projects ever built, the Concorde deserves a place in aviation history and could rightly be argued to have died before its time. Certainly that is the feeling of those involved in trying to get an Air France example airworthy again in time for the 2012 Olympics. I wish them the very best of luck; hopefully as the aircraft in question is, I believe, one of the last to be taken out of service and still in comparatively good condition this should not be impossible. The least we can do for this astonishing aeroplane is to have one flying, albeit in a heritage capacity, so that future generations can enjoy seeing this beautiful machine where it belongs - in the air.

I have been lucky enough to see the Concorde airborne twice before it was retired and both times have been magical, memorable experiences. There are very few machines that can match the majesty and otherworldliness of Concorde and I consider it to be one of the greatest technical achievements Britain, or indeed the world, has ever seen. I hope to be able to see her flying a third time, and many more besides, from 2012 onwards.