What and when was the last Lancaster to be scrapped?

lancaster nx739

Mark12 you are correct, that is MR.3 RF325 H-D the last Lancaster to leave RAF service when it left the SMR at St Mawgan and flown to Wroughton for equipment recovery on the 15 Oct ’56. It was then scrapped at Colleys probably the last service machine to be scrapped in the UK.
Fascinating to see the other cockpit sections (anymore?), the last colour scheme was the Extra Dark Sea Grey all over, previous scheme was white with light grey fusalage and wing tops but some appeared dirty, and a handful soldiered on in the older mid grey all over GR.III scheme.

Sorry to go off topic but what is the fusalage behind the Lancs, Buckmaster/Buckingham maybe?

As for the original question, then it would have to one of the Canadian or French aircraft, but when and which one?!

NX739 flew from Blackbush to Wroughton feb 1957

Last lancaster

I’m kind of curious as to what point it went from being..They are obsolete only fit for scrap as we have the Vulcan to “it would be totally unthinkable to scrap one”

It will also be interesting to see where we are with Concorde’s in 20 years time as I understand most of them are still not in a hanger and I dread to think what state some of them will be in if they remain outside.

I have put some information under NX739 on my own post you may find helpfull

And what might be a Firefly wing (marked 699) though it could be Sea Fury… Looks like a Venom wing just below that. Definitely a Sabre perched on the top.

What a treasure trove that would have been.

Tempest, I think. There were Tempest fuselages in the yard at that time.

Mark

Didn’t Cranfield have a Lancaster at about the same time as they had RF342? If so this could well have been one of the last to go.

Would that not have been PA474?

Jon

Slightly off topic but I remember seeing a report and a photo in Air Pictorial of a Lincoln (I think it was RF533 from memory) with a modified nose in the fire dump area at Stansted in 1968 or 69. It was in a sorry state and may not have survived for much longer (although many of the derelicts at Stansted in thoise days seemed to stay around a long time) but other than the RAF Museum and Southend Lincolns it must have been about the only other UK survivor at that time.
Didn’t Cranfield have a Lancaster at about the same time as they had RF342? If so this could well have been one of the last to go.

That last picture makes me weep.

Moggy

You and me both! 🙁

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/Mark12/Album%204/InternationalAlloys-001.jpg

Looks as though the Lanc nose on the top of the pile bears some traces of nose art and mission tallies. Any chance of a higher-res close-up of it?

As for types, as far as I can tell there’s 1 Sabre fuselage wedged between the 4 Lanc cockpits, 1 Buckingham/Buckmaster fuselage, and a Vampire/Venom pod. It’s enough to make you weep…

And what might be a Firefly wing (marked 699) though it could be Sea Fury… Looks like a Venom wing just below that. Definitely a Sabre perched on the top.

What a treasure trove that would have been.

Its the SMR (School of Maritime Reconnaissance) badge taken from the unit’s crest. I believe it’s a Stormy Petrel (oceanites oceanicus).

Thank you!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/Mark12/Album%204/InternationalAlloys-001.jpg

Looks as though the Lanc nose on the top of the pile bears some traces of nose art and mission tallies. Any chance of a higher-res close-up of it?

As for types, as far as I can tell there’s 1 Sabre fuselage wedged between the 4 Lanc cockpits, 1 Buckingham/Buckmaster fuselage, and a Vampire/Venom pod. It’s enough to make you weep…

What’s the logo on the nose?

Its the SMR (School of Maritime Reconnaissance) badge taken from the unit’s crest. I believe it’s a Stormy Petrel (oceanites oceanicus).

Definately not P-61 Black Widow, wrong fusalage shape and glazing arrangement!

What’s the logo on the nose?

Fuselage behind- Black Widow ? :;)

That last picture makes me weep.

Moggy

Mark12 you are correct, that is MR.3 RF325 H-D the last Lancaster to leave RAF service when it left the SMR at St Mawgan and flown to Wroughton for equipment recovery on the 15 Oct ’56. It was then scrapped at Colleys probably the last service machine to be scrapped in the UK.
Fascinating to see the other cockpit sections (anymore?), the last colour scheme was the Extra Dark Sea Grey all over, previous scheme was white with light grey fusalage and wing tops but some appeared dirty, and a handful soldiered on in the older mid grey all over GR.III scheme.

Sorry to go off topic but what is the fusalage behind the Lancs, Buckmaster/Buckingham maybe?

As for the original question, then it would have to one of the Canadian or French aircraft, but when and which one?!

Best guess would be 1965 when the last of the Canadian Lancasters were scrapped and the French Naval Lancasters withdrawn

Although the tail section of FM102 was srapped as late as 1992

see here for details of Canadian Lancasters

http://www.lancastermuseum.ca/lancavro.html

Canadian, French, BBMF & Charles Church aside, my understanding is that the RAF’s last operational Lancaster was RF325.

Although I did not know it at the time, I had captured the remains in Coley’s scrap yard, near Heathrow, in 1958, possibly 1959. Colour…’Shackleton Grey’

A year or so prior to this Lancaster cockpit sections were still visible in the International Alloy yard at Aylesbury. These seemed to be, from memory, more ‘Murky White’, but I could be wrong.

Mark

North Weald pile was the Lancaster and Lincoln parts which were a composite of KB976 KB994 and RF432 I think.

The various Lanc sections /debris round the back of the Aces High (North Weald) hangar in 1992 looked pretty much like the result of a scrapping :(.

Obviously it was, and remains a complicated and sorry tale which led to that outcome, but it all looked a bit brutal.

No none were used for target drones. There was an aborted attempt at an aerial tanker.