The PR7 was back safely on the ground by the time that I left the museum yesterday; as was the Rallye. The T19 is in a slightly more shaded location and its tail was still ‘stuck’ to the ground, but it might be back down now.

The nose-up attitude helps move the snow off the wings more quickly because when it thaws gravity then takes over and the snow slides off quite quickly; before the airframe then returns gently to the ground.

Walking around the site first thing yesterday I also felt that the two Canberras ‘taking-off’ was perhaps a silent mark of respect to Peter Green. His funeral is on Friday and he was a major ‘Canberra Fan’.

Indeed one of my favourite interviews in recent years was my discussions with Peter about when the Canberra came to RAF Binbrook in the early 1950s. Here’s what Peter recalled about seeing the first Canberras arrive in Lincolnshire.

“It was revolutionary! I was living in Grimsby at the time and we watched the Canberras coming in to Binbrook in early 1951. I had been to Farnborough in 1949 and seen Beamont flying the prototype so I knew what the aircraft was like and also its performance capabilities; so when I heard that it was coming to Binbrook with 101 Squadron I was highly delighted. In a sense the Canberra was handed to me on a plate, just 10 miles from my home; they flew over the town on approach and we used to go up to the airfield to see them, so I really just grew up with them”.