Hullo Lanc fans.
Had an update on her progress recently from Andy Simpson at Hendonand I thought I would pass it along. If anyone knows where there is a H2s radar scanner assembly please contact Hendon as they require one for their lancaster.
R5868 is ticking over slowly; currently her flying control surfaces are being refurbished as they had corroded badly during her decade outdoors at Scampton.Our tecchies at RAFM Cosford are building new aileron/elevator ribs, for instance.Our volunteer Friends Restoration team are busy with the paintbrush, currently repainting the bomb bay doors, in sections, stripping them back to bare metal. A couple of years back areas of the lower rear fuselage were reskinned by our tecchies, again due to corrosion when at Scampton. Much of the interior was refitted back in the ’70s by one of her original ground crew, Ted Willoughby. As you might have seen in the latest Flypast, ’68 is currently being winched sideways at regular intervals as we move various aircraft in and out as part of the work necessary to open two new hangars in December
By: Peter - 21st January 2003 at 19:46
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
Mike:
Ha ha I know mate just imagined you going nyah nyah when you were relating that story…
Peter
By: Bluebird Mike - 21st January 2003 at 18:37
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
Peter-no poking tongue intended mate, just sharing a happy memory!
(If it helps, I got a terribly sunburned ear on the first of the four days!!!)
Mike
By: SADSACK - 21st January 2003 at 08:52
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
Much as I’d like to see sugar taken away and restored considering the time its taken to restore Just Jane, the French one and G George, we could be in for a long wait…
By: Peter - 21st January 2003 at 00:35
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 21-01-03 AT 00:39 AM (GMT)]+Mike.
I dont get to see her too often. Last time I saw her in the air was London severla years ago and before then it was our local airport.
I seriously hope you werent sticking your tounge out when you wrote about the flypasts.. LOL
A couple of nice shots of FM213 saluting our museum and town..
By: Bluebird Mike - 20th January 2003 at 23:01
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
You got those kid’s addresses? Maybe I know someone..!
Like I’ve said, I don’t disagree with the work on the Lanc in Hendon, just that it’s leaving her looking less than good; different patches of matt black and all that! She’s been in there thirty years, it wouldn’t hurt to truck her off to the doctors for a while!
Peter, do you see the CWH Lanc fly a lot where you are, or just every now and then? I suppose we’re spoilt here in the UK with the ever-present ‘474! I saw her last on the south coast at Eastbourne, she looked great coming along the coast by the white cliffs and all that! On the first day she was on her own, about 30 minutes behind her slot time-they’d had trouble starting her at Biggin or something like that! On the second day we had the Lanc and Spit but no Hurricane, on the third day the Lanc and Hurricane but no Spit, and finally, on the fourth and final day of the event, all three came down the coast together! Great, over the sea in the sun, roaring over the end of the pier, it made a nice change from seeing them over the more usual airfield!
By: Peter - 20th January 2003 at 22:15
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
Interesting comments.
Why not place a access platform going up to the stbd side of the cockpit so visitors can look in? you could even charge a small donation for joe public?
I think they are doing the right thing for now by conserving and correcting small pockets of corrosion until such time as she can be properly restored. Mike, you should have a close up look at the state of our paint on our lanc. much peeling of layers in various areas and pleny of dings and dents from kids throwing rocks while she was outside.
By: Bluebird Mike - 20th January 2003 at 19:16
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
I’ve not had much luck with communicating with Hendon-and yes, I’ve been nice and polite! But they seemed quite put-out/huffy when I first tried enquiring about the ‘perch’, it’s intended purpose, etc etc. Apparently no one else had ever commented on it one way or the other, so why I should have a problem with it now etc etc…oh well!
Actually, someone DID comment on it in it’s early days-a certain Lancman asked it’s purpose of Michael Fopp, who was watching the proceedings on the very day that her poor backside was craned skywards! His answer was almost that of a seasoned politician, and I knew then that little true thought had gone into it, and she’d be stuck there looking daft forever more.
Now here we are, years later…
By: David_Kavangh - 20th January 2003 at 19:08
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
Interesting idea. Why not put it to the Museum direct?
By: Bluebird Mike - 20th January 2003 at 18:48
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
Just realised, nobody said it was the blister that was needed apart from me!
While I’m on the subject of ranting away about ‘Sugar’, here’s a thought;
The tail was originally put on THAT pole, so I’m told, to bring the cockpit nearer the visiting public (yeah, right) and also to give the illusion of a Lancaster landing-hence the old back drop and moving sky projection that used to be behind it, and of course her ‘crew’.
Now, as this idea totally failed in any way whatsoever to convince anybody that this huge aircraft which is hemmed-in on all sides by a building and other aircraft was in any kind of movement, here’s another idea for making more of a ‘display’ of the old thing, while allowing it to retain some dignity-something Hendon bosses have been sadly forgetting about for some years now.
Why not lower the tail off the perch (please, I’m begging you!!!) and have a seven man crew posed about her rear door, ready for the ‘off’ as seen in so many photos? The door could be open, adding that little flash of green and a hint of interest to Joe Publiuc as to what she’s like inside, but there can be a crewman in the doorway and another part-way up the ladder to prevent anyone too keen from jumping in! The rest of the crew can be stood there carrying kit bags, homing pigeons, that kind of thing.
The overall scene would not detract from the display of the aircraft as a whole-the mechanics figures on the Wellington are a good idea of this sort of idea done simply but well.
What about access to the interior for museum staff? Well, it would surely be much less hassle to move, say, two mannequins aside than it is currently to climb up to where the door is now!
Also then, her cockpit would again be accessible to visiting veterans etc, who must currently feel slightly put-out to arrange a ‘pilgrimage’ and get over that main spar, just to discover two stuffed loons sat in the best bit!!!
By: Bluebird Mike - 20th January 2003 at 18:26
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
…oh, I forgot, why do they need a new H2S blister? Is it just because the old one has been painted over? They’ll surely be extremely lucky to find a servicable one, after all, the Linc Lanc Association have been looking for one for years for PA474!
By: Bluebird Mike - 20th January 2003 at 18:24
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
Interesting stuff, thanks! David, as I’m one of the more vocal people here regards the Lanc, let me say that I’m in no way knocking the efforts of such volunteers as yourself, but I just think that the Lanc, while perhaps being tended for in all the necessary spots, is starting to look very ‘patchy’, and could do with a complete conservation job, not just small areas here and there that then don’t match the rest in appearance!
Yes, I know the ‘pole’ issue is a museum policy one, so I won’t launch into you on that one! Come on though, anyone must admit, it’s bloody daft looking and totally pointless…
I’d have to say that the interior was far from ‘complete’ when I was last inside there, too! A cockpit panel, nav and wireless stations, and everything else within sight sprayed green, do not an interior make…
By: David_Kavangh - 20th January 2003 at 17:09
RE: The famous Lancaster R5868 POS Sugar
…….and I’m one of the Volunteer Friends who, with my wife, has been working on the bomb bay door, port side; working from the rear. You can just see the work, Primer on treated metal, in the photos in this month’s FlyPast. There seem to have been some comment about Sugar on this forum and I’ve avoided direct comment on the issue until, now. But as the subject has come up….
You will also all be interested to know that the conservation treatment has also included the port side inner undercarriage door and the area immediately above and a panel to the left. This last panel has been removed and it’s this that I’m currently working on.
We are awaiting the return of the Elevators from Cosford, the work on the ribs I understand has been a major project in itself.
Before anyone asks about the tail resting on a pole, this is a museum policy decision, so I can’t comment.
Should anyone wish to help out at Hendon, then become a volunteer. I did……
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January 20, 2003 at 3:35 pm