”The Ministry of Defence has agreed a £1.4m deal for a specialist engineer to build a new tailplane for the 75-year-old Lancaster bomber, which flies as part of the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF).
The contract, which includes other maintenance work, compares with the £45,000 cost of a brand new Lancaster when they were being turned out in the thousands during the Second World War. Adjusted for inflation, the price paid for each Lancaster by what was then the Air Ministry works out at £2m in today’s money.
The Aircraft Restoration Company (ARC), which specialises in keeping old military aircraft in the air, won the contract to construct and fit the new tailplanes to the BBMF’s Lancaster PA474.
John Romain, owner of the business based at former RAF airfield Duxford, said: “We are one of the very few companies in the world who can do this sort of work.
“We became experts in doing maintenance on the Lancaster a few years ago when it needed a major overhaul, and we do work that goes beyond normal line maintenance done by the RAF.”
Daily Telegraph
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/02/08/75-year-old-lancaster-b…
By: Ant.H - 9th February 2021 at 14:11
Thanks Bruce, I knew there was a link of some sort.
By: Bruce - 9th February 2021 at 13:28
I think they were borrowed a few years back in order to jig from.
By: Trolley Aux - 9th February 2021 at 11:56
I am guessing it includes a re-spar as I cannot read the Telegraph link?
By: Ant.H - 9th February 2021 at 11:14
This is great news, it’s good to see long-term investment being put into the Lanc. Hopefully it bodes well for the long term future of BBMF as a whole.
Relying on my brain cells for a tick, I seem to remember there was a plan to use the tailplane (or components of it) from FM212, the Lanc over in Windsor, Ontario. Is this still part of the plan?
By: mmitch - 9th February 2021 at 10:42
Reading ‘Memorial Flight’ there is an article on the work at ARC. The LLA paid for some elevators to be flown from Canada.
mmitch.
By: trumper - 9th February 2021 at 10:04
In these days of cutbacks i am pleasantly surprised to see such investment, good stuff.
By: cometguymk1 - 9th February 2021 at 07:13
The highlight figure does seem a tad high but then it does state that other work is included in that. Good to hear the MOD are willing to invest sizeable amounts still.
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February 8, 2021 at 10:50 pm