Lancaster Bomber

[Wheelgunner]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/canada-s-lancaster-bomber-to-cross-atlantic-for-u-k-tour-1.2546757?cmp=googleeditorspick&google_editors_picks=true

 

[gramps]

Neat!
gramps

 

[Fox Mike]

That is one nice aircraft. While visiting the British Isles with a contingent of CAP International Exchange Cadets, way back in 1954, I got to fly in one. It was one of the highlights of my tour.

 

[Ray Newman]

Considering their age and scarcity, I hope all goes well for both planes and their crews.

 

[WIL TERRY]

OH LORDY......where is the Bf109g when we need it .....?

 

[Bob Wright]

Several years ago I worked with a man whose father, a mechanical engineer, had a hand in the developement of the Rolls Royce Merlin engines that powered the bomber. He had emigrated to the US and was living here at the time of his death.

Bob Wright

 

[WendyZXZ]

Very interesting story and bit of history!

 

[Wheelgunner]

Considering their age and scarcity, I hope all goes well for both planes and their crews.

My thoughts exactly.

Wheelgunner

 

[snowman2]

That particular plane flew to our city Winnipeg in2010 and was opened to the public at Western Canada airplane Museum. They let anyone who wanted to do a walk through on the the plane. The large British bombers had only one pilot position on it no copilot so if the the plot was injured they were in a bit of trouble. The bomb bay of this plane is huge much larger than the bomb bay of the B17 that came to visit last summer , they were able to mount up to a 10ton bomb in the bomb bay. It took guts for those young men to go out on those missions night after night. When I was a teenager working after school I used to clean an insurance office the owner often worked at night told me stories of his experiances of flying interdiction missions in a Bristol Beafighter in Burma. He even showed me guncamera pictures from his plane from some of his missions. They showed him shooting up Japanese shipping . Interestingly after the war he never flew a plane again he just got along with life.
Cheers Harv

 

[Colonialgirl]

I'm still hoping that Fantasy of Flight up toward Orlando gets their Lancaster rebuilt someday; When we visited there some years ago, it was in pieces in the large shipping containers. If memory serves me right, When my Dad was stationed on the Navy Airbase in Morocco, we use to see the French flying old Lancasters ; Use to PO the US Navy because the French were ALWAYS running over the runway lights and damaging them.

 

[hpman66]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CAnqbFiLbyM
Vintage Lancaster bomber flies over Niagra Falls

 

[CGDustDevil]

VERY cool! One heck of an aircraft!

 

[TinkerDave]

That event was two years ago. It was really cool & I got excited to see the possibility again, but if you read the publication date of the article you will see that it was in 2014. TD

 

[blackhawknj]

Yes, no co-pilot, the flight engineer was next to the pilot.
In WWII US paratroops were the only ones to carry a reserve chute.
No chin turret or side gunners, and they used 303 machine guns IIRC.
I read a US military attaché who witnessed the Battle of Britain stated that the German bombers had inadequate defensive armament.

 

[hpman66]

That event was two years ago. It was really cool & I got excited to see the possibility again, but if you read the publication date of the article you will see that it was in 2014. TD

I saw the 2014 date as well. The reason I posted the link was that there was an actual video to watch(one picture/video is worth a thousand words :wink: )

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

Another forum I visit is based in the UK, and one of the members saw those two Lancasters flying together, along with some of their "little friends" (hard to tell from the pictures, probably Spitfires?) I can't get a link to work (gotta be a member to get to that part of the forum), but he put up some good pictures of all of them near the coast in Ireland, I believe. Beautiful, and one can only imagine the sound of those big Merlins roaring overhead in person!

This is just one of many teasers available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTQIUEa4cqA

Rick C

 

[hpman66]

Here's another Brit plane, the Mosquito FB.26. Back in 1963, Cliff Robertson was in a movie that they made about this plane--633 Squadron. IIRC, the Mosquito's airframe was made out to wood to make it lighter/faster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-I4hZah_Pc
Low Level Mosquito FB.26 fly-bys
Published on Oct 24, 2012

 

[hpman66]

Yup, it was made outta wood. I don't know if it was a mistake or not but I believe it is De Havilland or de Havilland. Maybe the Aussies spelled it different?

http://wn.com/haviland_mosquito_build_circa_wwii_era
Haviland Mosquito build circa WWII era
published: 15 Jan 2009

 

[Rick Courtright]

Here's another Brit plane, the Mosquito FB.26. Back in 1963, Cliff Robertson was in a movie that they made about this plane--633 Squadron. IIRC, the Mosquito's airframe was made out to wood to make it lighter/faster.

Hi,

After the war, the Brits used up just about every scrap of metal they could find. Here's what some of the Mosquitos turned into:

Rick C

 

[hpman66]

If you've got a hour to watch, you might give this NG Documentary a look on the De Havilland Mosquito FB.26.

https://youtu.be/3Sryy8WHnG0
De Havilland Mosquito Air Bomber | HD National Geographic | HD 720P Documentary
published: 24 Feb 2015

 

[Scout943]

Neat stuff !