The best Looking Lancaster around???

RE: They all look good !

OK time to go on the defensive..
Lancaster fm213 was painted in authentic RCAF wartime bomb,er camoflauge using a very rare set of manuals that had all the stenciling and paint ship samplesfrom Victory Aircraft Malton…c by Norm Etheridge who was at the time the project leader. The worst part of her paint scheme now is where they have touched up around the fairing on the top turret with a different shade of green and brown. I am all for doing away with the top turret on her for good as this is the wrong mark of turret for the aircaft that she is portraying and it gave more of a sense of loss of Mynarski when she flew minus the turret.
As for Dust traps.. I bet most of you would give there hens teeth to have a stirling or a whitley mouldering away in a museum….?
We do not wish to sit back and let our aircraft quietly rot away. we have a very good restoration team now comprised of young volunteers and licensed ame’s restoring our lancaster to ground running.. How many lancasters can boast a return to such status on a limited budget????? Currently there is only one Lancaster out of the eight remaining in canada that is sitting virtually untouched outdoors..hopefully this is soon to change in the nest year. All of the other survivors are lovingly looked after either in a purpose built hanger or on outdoor display..

RE: They all look good !

Canada still has two very nice preserved post war Lanc’s which look very nice in silver!

This one is the Edmunston example..
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RE: They all look good !

Absolutely!

But following on from what munnst said, we EASILY have the best looking of the two ‘flyers’ by far! While it’s great that the CWH Lanc is alive and kicking, it really has always looked dreadful finish-wise, from day one.

Mentioning ‘sterile dust traps’, I SO want to see ‘474 one day painted up as Hendon’s ‘Sugar’, it would look superb, though I doubt they’d paint her as a still-existing aircraft.

RE: They all look good !

Exactly my point Merlin. Aren’t we all lucky to be able to see and hear a flying Lanc. Museums are full of sterile dust traps. They have their place, but when aircraft like this are in their own element, nothing compares.

RE: They all look good !

Hi
I have got some piccies that may be of interest first one is of the fin and rudder second one is upper turret as for the best looking one to me they are all fantastic, whether they have dodgy looking paint, nose art too high or whatever….i am thankful that we have them at all, And they didn’t end up as frying pans in the 50’s

Dezz

Ohh yeah ….happy Christmas everyone!!

I know that I posted the bottom pic before but I like it, (taken at biggin hill 2002)

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RE: They all look good !

I think in some cases where the paint is hideous (David Price Hurricane etc)it can spoil it, but I doubt any of us would turn down the chance to see the 2 lancs fly together. As for the nose art, you cant see it when its up in the air anyway.

RE: They all look good !

, well said!

– steve

RE: They all look good !

We Had the BBMF up here in Scotland this year and this is the first time I have actually seen here fly. It was a real pleasure to see her fly. If a lot of you see her at every other show you should think of us who dont get to see her that often and think how lucky you are to see this compared with us and stop all the bitching about this isnt right or that isnt right. For all intents and purposes it is the BEST LANC FLYING. In my opinion and seeing as it the only uk flying lanc it has no competition. I personally think that all the guys at BBMF do a great job and congratulate them on it. If it were not for them we would not have a UK flying lanc. So think on next time you go to say something about something is not right. One time the government might take what you say serious and then cut the budget for the BBMF and you will have NO FLYING lancs in this country as it will sit in some museum and rot away.

Also I dont think it matters if we have hybrids flying at all as long as the pick one of the aircrafts id and use it then there sholud be no problem. It is what an aircraft portrays in its flight and the memory of the pilots who flew and gave their lives we should be thinking off not this is one aircraft and that is a piece of another. THATS NOT RIGHT.

It is this kind of thinking that will be our downfall.

Merlin

RE: They all look good !

Sheesh! The only country with an airforce that stills flys a Lanc and you all moan about the paint job.

If you want authenticity why don’t you remove her turrets and paint her as a civy?

RE: They all look good !

I too think that the BBMF lanc is taken for granted, and surely complaints that the nose art is a little too high or a little too low is going way over the top.

I too have been on the BBMF tour many a time and the tailfins were mentioned. They were said to be of the “Lincoln” type which is open to interpretation i guess. The gentlemen who give up thier time do a fantastic job at Conningsby and the last occasion i visited i was given a very graphic description of some of the horror stories of the flights over Germany. I guess there are some things that literature can’t convey.

As for FM213, anyone know why she has such camoflage? In some photots the paint looks spot on but in others, with different light it looks way off. Somehting to do with the paint type perhaps? Either way she looks fantastic.

-Steve

RE: They all look good !

>Well, it matters when people keep spouting incorrect
>assumptions as ‘fact’, yes! But in my eyes, only from the
>point of view that it’s uually said in some way to detract
>from ‘474-‘Oh, it’s got Lincoln rudders, it’s wrong’ sort of
>a thing.

Surely, the gentlemanly thing to do is to politely correct the individual concerned. Certainly how you could imply I was ‘spouting’ is beyond me. I can only assume it’s a touchy subject for some of you, and offer some kind of reassurance that I have no interest in detracting in any way from PA474, particularly after I made the 4-hour journey there one day in November just to see her.

I might even attempt to figure out how to attach photos to forum posts.

>Of course we’re lucky to have her-I actually think we take
>her a little for granted sometimes, as she’s simply been
>around, at everything, forever!

I agree!

>Imagine, for a minute that the number on the fuselage of
>474 was XH558.

Then I’d be curious where they managed to hide the four Olympus engines…

Gentleman, relax…
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RE: They all look good !

Well, it matters when people keep spouting incorrect assumptions as ‘fact’, yes! But in my eyes, only from the point of view that it’s uually said in some way to detract from ‘474-‘Oh, it’s got Lincoln rudders, it’s wrong’ sort of a thing.

Of course we’re lucky to have her-I actually think we take her a little for granted sometimes, as she’s simply been around, at everything, forever!

RE: They all look good !

And, when you sum it all up, does it really matter? We’re lucky to be able to see 474 in flight, and for that, I’m sure we’re all grateful.
Imagine, for a minute that the number on the fuselage of 474 was XH558.

RE: They all look good !

Yes, we HAVE all had this conversation before! To see late Lancs with ‘Lincoln’ style tail fins, check out pictures of the Lancastrians, as many of those had the slightly larger rudder style, as did some (but not all!) Yorks. It all depended on what batch of aircraft it happened to be-the original, more cocmmon, ‘standard’ Lanc type were still being fitted to new aircraft in other batches at the same time!

I suppose it IS possible that PA474 had her own, original but still ‘Lincoln style’ fins replaced with those from Lincoln RF398 in the early days, as various other bits and bobs from RF certainly found their way into the Lanc! Though I’d have thought that would have been mentioned in the same book that describes ‘474 and ‘398 having their tails propped up on blocks ‘one lunchtime’ to swap the tail wheel assemblies over!

But whatever, the common assumption is that PA474 is somehow ‘wrong’ for having Lincoln style rudders to ‘keep her going’, when in fact, they are completely correct for this particular aircraft.

RE: They all look good !

Can’t help thinking that they are all pretty special !! I especially like the post-war SAR schemes and fit on Canadian Lancaster’s but lets be grateful for what we’ve got!

RE: The best Looking Lancaster around???

I think we’ve had this conversation before.

RE: The best Looking Lancaster around???

Monkey sting

Lancman is correct the tail fins are original late batch lancaster items and they are also used on Lincoln bombers as well.

Mike I was on the tour at coningsby in 1996 and the gent mentioned that they were lincoln fins that were fitted to her at some time… maybe they need to have this changed in the tour…?

RE: The best Looking Lancaster around???

>Check your references before perpetuating
>incorrect assumptions!!!

Then you ought to inform the BBMF at Coningsby that their guides are giving out false information, if what you say is true.

RE: The best Looking Lancaster around???

“Did you also know that the tail fins are from a Lincoln…”

No, they are NOT!!! PA474, like many but not all of the last batches of Lancasters, was BUILT WITH THOSE TAIL FINS ORIGINALLY!!! You can see them on her in photos of her earliest days out in Africa with 82 Sqdn, and you can also see them on many pictures of other Lancs from those same last batches. Check your references before perpetuating incorrect assumptions!!!

Merry Crimbo!

Mike

RE: The best Looking Lancaster around???

>My only beef with PA474 is that there efforts with nose art
>are not too accurate….

Did you also know that the tail fins are from a Lincoln…