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Lancaster Bomber

BroonsBane

BroonsBane

raisn em up waxin em down
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This beauty, one of only two flying Lancasters in the world, touched down at Thunder Bay International Airport this afternoon.
She was greeted by a huge throng of enthusiasts as well as a handful of local veterans that served as Lancaster crew during WWII. It was amazing to get to shake their hands and listen to their stories as they reminisced about their time in the war.
Fitted with 4 Rolls Royce Merlin engines the old bird roared past on a fly-by before taxing in and I was able to get a few decent shots.

It will be open to the public tomorrow for brief tours and I'll definitely be there. What an amazing aircraft and one that played such a pivotal role in WWII.

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I remember reading somewhere that we couldn't fight WW 2 again like they did because we simply couldn't afford the gas anymore...The old WW 2 bombers had a strange beauty to them, didn't they ? And its amazing how SMALL they were-I remember walking thru a B-17 once & thinking it was it was a 2/3 or 3/4 scale model...Even a B-29 was kinda small.. I mean, yeah, they're big, but...Compared to planes today, they're somewhat dinky. Beautiful shots, by the bye.
 
teac4010 said:
The plane is in Canada, not the Nannyland USA. :D
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:yes:

A telephoto lens probably doesn't hurt, either.

FWIW, when that Lanc is on display in its hangar in Hamilton, you can walk right up to it. All of the displays at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum are very accessible.

As for size... the B-25 seems positively miniature.
 
...Another thing about the -17 was how "OLD" it seemed....I mean, almost prehistoric. The -29 I was in, definately seemed a LOT more like a modern plane, still old, but not the "Dawn of Flight" feeling I got in the -17.
 
That plane is constantly seen flying over Hamilton. I actually remember going to the Canadian Warplane Museum as a kid and learning about how its 1 of 2 in the world.
 
CaptainCheese said:
That plane is constantly seen flying over Hamilton. I actually remember going to the Canadian Warplane Museum as a kid and learning about how its 1 of 2 in the world.
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...That's the thing, you know...The 17 & the 29 I saw were like maybe the only flying examples of each of them, too...POSSIBLY one or 2 more, but that's it. Do you want to risk flying one of these incredible planes & maybe lose it forever ? People 100, 200, 300 years from now might not believe such things ever existed...Or actually FLEW...
 
I was inside one at a museum outside of Calgary and another in the Imperial War Museum...really tiny inside! Much smaller than a B-17 inside, maybe due to it originally being sort of a heavy-medium bomber(?), the Avro Manchester. I was surprised by the pilot layout, not side by side like the B-17. Beside the pilot are the stairs down to the bombardier compartment, IIRC, instead of a copilot seat. Can't remember where the copilot sat...in these pictures it looks side by side. Maybe a seat went in over the stairs?
 
We've had a Lanc on display, on a pylon, in a city park, for as long as I can remember, until about 2 years ago. Some genius finally figured out that aluminum doesn't weather well. The plane went into a hangar for restoration, for static display, indoors. The local group traded parts, to the group keeping the Hamilton specimen, for expertise in restoration. Cool how ours is helping keep another in the air.
 
What a treat to see a veteran like that restored to flying condition.
The insurance must be a little steep.

On a side note, I had a chance to take my 90 year old father to a hanger a while back and he was able to walk up to an in progress restoration of a Mosquito. He flew these during the war.

Again great to see the old birds fly again!
 
CaptainCheese said:
That plane is constantly seen flying over Hamilton. I actually remember going to the Canadian Warplane Museum as a kid and learning about how its 1 of 2 in the world.
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For a really memorable and moving experience, make plans to attend the Remembrance Day service at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.

The Lancaster does a low pass over the hangar (where the service is being held) at precisely 11AM to mark the occasion.

It is worth taking the time off work for a few hours to experience this.
 
Several years back, I had the opportunity to go to the Warbirds Over Hickory fly-in, in Hickory, North Carolina. That's where I got to walk thru the Seventeen. If you liked old planes, it was THE place to go...They had some modern stuff, too, but mainly it was WW 2 stuff, & early, early jets...I remember there were 2 or 3 P-51 Mustangs there, one was "Natural" aluminum, & it was polished to a fare-thee-well...It was undoubtedly Somebody's Baby, even the wheelwells were shiny & pretty. Mustangs are still popular, a good one like that would set you back 3/4 to a cool million bux. You gotta REALLY want a Warbird like that, though, there's hassles w/the Gummint over registration, they aren't exactly economical to keep or fly, maintenance is either a "Learn to do it yrself, or pay out the Wazoo" proposition. Fighters, by their nature, aren't docile machines to fly, either, & the average Cessna or Piper driver can get in over his head really quick, if he ain't careful.
 
Sandy G said:
I remember reading somewhere that we couldn't fight WW 2 again like they did because we simply couldn't afford the gas anymore...The old WW 2 bombers had a strange beauty to them, didn't they ? And its amazing how SMALL they were-I remember walking thru a B-17 once & thinking it was it was a 2/3 or 3/4 scale model...Even a B-29 was kinda small.. I mean, yeah, they're big, but...Compared to planes today, they're somewhat dinky. Beautiful shots, by the bye.
Click to expand...

Well, that's the thing. It's all about perspective. If you compare a four engine WWII bomber to a WWII fighter, say a Spitfire, Mustang or Messerschmidt, the bomber is huge.
 
they took a lot of airspace as the british pilots fly like they drive,,,in zig zag..
 
Sandy G said:
...That's the thing, you know...The 17 & the 29 I saw were like maybe the only flying examples of each of them, too...POSSIBLY one or 2 more, but that's it. Do you want to risk flying one of these incredible planes & maybe lose it forever ? People 100, 200, 300 years from now might not believe such things ever existed...Or actually FLEW...
Click to expand...

I recall the last airworthy B-29 "FiFi" has just been cleared to fly again. It's been undergoing engine work for several years.
 
I remember saying to my buddy that I went to the Hickory show with, "Y'know, a B-17 is a great big little bitty airplane..." That don't really make much sense until you see one in person. I'm 6', & built big, & I felt like a giant in the 17. Everything seemed to be scaled for a guy about 5'6" or 5'7", & just had a "dainty" look to it. I would be scared to death just riding around the patch in it-They were selling 30-minute rides for $200-much less up 10-12000' & ME-109s shooting at you, while you were freezing to death...
 
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