NX611 to fly ?????

Wonderfully put, Steve.

Trumper makes a good point about getting some ‘dead’ airframes back to ground running order; an oft-mentioned on here grudge of mine is the Me410 that’s now tucked up gathering dust at Cosford; I used to absolutely LOVE seeing this baby running her engines up (Always in the drizzle, it seemed!) on show day mornings at St Athan; same goes for the FW190 now stuck rather uselessly in the Bomber Hall at Hendon.

(Not sure what Halifax he meant though-the Hendon one isn’t going to be running any engines, and the Airfix one at Elvington would go backwards if it spun those props in anger!!!) 😉

My views on this have mellowed over the years. The possibility of having both NX611 and PA474 airworthy would have had me grinning uncontrollably a couple of years ago, but to be honest, I really don’t see what would be gained by it. As others have pointed out, we have more to lose by it.

East Kirkby as a location is one of the most evocative places I’ve ever visited. To stand at night on ground where thousands of young men climbed anxiously into their machines, and to watch one of the last of that type of aircraft start up, taxi out, run her engines up out there in the gloom, and then return, is an incredibly moving experience. It’s taught me a lot, and it’s been a major factor in sowing the seed of remembrance in Haydn’s mind. He’s still only six, but he knows what a Lancaster is, what it did, and in future he’ll also come to realise what it means.

If she were to be restored to fly, undoubtedly she would be retired from her taxi runs to preserve her engine and airframe hours; the night runs would become a thing of the past, and quite frankly I really don’t think NX611 would have the same effect on people as she does now. She’s best kept and cherished for what she is today.

I spoke to one of the Panton brothers last year during a visit for the engine run ups and he said that it would’nt take too much to get her airworthy but they were not in any hurry to do it.
As he pointed out ,god forbid, it crashed ,what would their memorial/museum be without a live taxying Lancaster.I would love to see it fly BUT i would be happier if they could get hold of another taxying airframe first,i doubt that that would happen though.
How about concentrating on getting MORE airframes from museums into a taxying conditiion,at least we may get some rarer airframes “live”,sounds and sights to behold,Me 110’s ,He 111,Halifax,there are so many dead airframes tucked up in museums.
If they had open days at these museums where they ground ran the engines and taxied them several times a year ,well i would pay to see them:)

I live very local to EK…. but funny like when you live so close you never visit……well I did get there on 13-09-03.

Slight technical hitch on the morning taxi run that Saturday as No3 engine was quickly shut down with coolant pouring out of the bottom of the cowling.
Ian Hickling was quickly to work on this to see if it was repairable for the afternoon run….
Anyone know if a repair was sorted ??

One thing I was pleased to see was the attendance of a recent ex RAF Fire Tender and crew which was in position for the engine start and then moved off to stand by during the run up following the taxi…..good that the risks of running up the Lancaster are being fully addressed …… aside from any dream to take things further….
I have always worried that The Panton Brothers could, if not very careful, portray that a return to flight was the way forward and unwitingly drag an audience too far down this road …..only then to disappoint them at some stage…..
Somehow ……”One day”…..is an answer that is just enough to keep the dream and mystique alive without too much upset….

Clive.

This must be the longest surviving thread at nearly two and a half years old. Keep it going for a few more years and you just may see 611 fly again. Anything can happen.

The issue about Germans being offended by the presence of an aircraft such as a Lancaster seems plausible but does not happen. I have also heard the story about the welcome that Sally B had in Germany and went to a pure warbird airshow at Oberpfaffenhofen (Dornier’s base since many years) near Munich some years ago where the French B-17, a B-25, Spitfires and Mustangs gave some very spirited displays at low level and nobody complained.

I am also of the opinion that the “market” could not support a second Lancaster and when I think of the amount of historic aircraft that is rotting away outside at many museums I think any public funds available for aircraft preservation are better spent on getting them under cover instead.

Good lord, you look away from here for five minutes..!

Well, I think everything I think has already been said. Here are my random thoughts on this anyway-

‘611 is best off where and how she is now-she’ll last damn near forever that way.

No, ‘474 can’t go on forever, but as it’s only really a dodgy landing or some git at the MoD that will finish her off in anything like the near future, I don’t think we need worry about replacing her just yet!

Re. resparring ‘611, just like that, down here at St Athan; wasn’t the special steel used for ‘474 the last of a batch left over from doing the Shacks? So perhaps the very material to do this job is no longer easily available, for a start.

If ‘611 was restored to fly, she’d need to be stripped right down to her bones and rebuilt; not even thinking about corrosion for a minute, ‘611 engineer Ian Hickling has said about how the aircraft was neither properly taken apart or put back together again on her move from Scampton, so that fact alone would mean having to start from scratch with every part of her ‘just in case’. Too many people seem to be fooled by a high-speed taxy run or two that ‘611 could just lift off into the air and get straight on with it.

I really don’t think the UK will support 2 flying Lancs.

Much else as the place has to offer, if ‘611 flies, East Kirkby loses it’s major attraction, and could then possibly face financial problems. And if ‘611 is living away and playing, then costs would go through the roof, furthering the money woes.

There’s a lot else to say, buy really, things are best left as they are. :rolleyes:

The suggestion a few years ago (not sure how true) was that to let her fly there would have to be a complete Xray in the states (don’t ask me why)! This would mean the aircraft being away for 12months, Harold and Fred would then have a museum without its major exhibit for a year. I know they would love to get her flying, but how practical is it really.

Re: NX611 to fly…

Originally posted by peter
If she is never to fly then why on earth go to all the trouble to get her radios working again?

Don’t see the relevance of this.

East Kirkby to either of the BBMF bases would be a flight in the open FIR. It could be done non-radio with no problem.

An ICOM hand-held portable would suffice for any flight that required radio (And it would probably be more efficient than the wartime ones)

Tarting up the radios is not an indicator of impending flight.

Moggy

NX611 to fly…

Keeep in mind that all four merlin engines have been overhauled and they have one or possibly two spares. Who’s to say that she isnt being gradually rebuilt to fly?
I think that if they intend it to fly then they will get her certified for a ferry flight down to sta than where 474s overhaul crew are based and she will be completely gone over. If she is never to fly then why on earth go to all the trouble to get her radios working again?