Its a real project, though it needs a wider audience to get things going proper. I appreciate some may think that the Viking is worthy of saving in its own right, but nobody seems wlling to step up to save it in one lump, and similar barbs are always hurled at Elvington’s Halifax for daring to be a composite.. its a bit repetitive and not really constructive.

Information…  A chap by the name of Barry Love has long been trying to get parts together to rebuild/recreate a Wellington, and he is heading things up. I found out the Viking was under threat of scrapping and put him in touch with its current owners. A deal has since been struck (and the scrapping stopped), so Barry is now fundraising to bring it home from Austria once Covid has calmed down a little. So far he has been approaching original equipment manufacturers and other sources – but for more detail you would need to ask Barry himself.

Some Wellington main fuselage frames have already been acquired and Wellington Z1206 is being used as a template for bomb bay/fuselage structure. These will be used with the Viking’s own Wellington derived wings, to form the basis of the ‘new’ aircraft, in the same way Hastings wings have been used to build Halifaxes.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/wellington-construction-project

Regards

Rich

Hi all,

New sign in, same old me….

It seems the beefier pedal is a peculiarity of the Mk 1 Shackleton, by the time a similar pedal was used on the Mk 2  they were all the same dimensions. The drawings list many common parts in the pedal and adjuster between all the heavy Avro bomber types, it was only the Mk 3/Vulcan style pedals where everything changed again.

Regards

Rich

I don’t think I’d want to see it rebuilt.

My goal is not the rebuilding or reconstruction of NF920, purely the recovery. To rebuild everything would cause things to be lost. Inside the tail, she has some markings indicating weights, these are handwritten and probably put there by someone trying to figure out how much weight was needed to counter additions such as the Wellington overload tanks and lack of a mid-upper turret. The original Nose-Art which survives, albiet close to the marsh water and faded. On the tail planes the original code letters with yellow edging, but with a different letter starting to show through, just in red.

I don’t care where it goes, be it Sweden or UK, it just needs saving. The reason i keep trying to get it back to the UK is that there has been next to no interest in putting it in a safe environment in Sweden, or anywhere other than the marsh in which it lies. That to me is a crying shame, and one that I will continue to endeavour to put right.

If any Swedish party comes up with a good plan:- e-mail me. PM me. Shout at me down the telephone. Write it in chalk on the side of my car if you have to, to reallly get my attention.

But until then, the offers I have had in the UK have priority.

Regards

Ric

The last I heard was that some time ago, the spar had been inspected, and x-rayed (I don’t know how) and that it was in good order. When the question was asked after this little revelation, would it pass the necessary requirements the CAA would require we were told “YES”.

It was stressed that “Jane” would have to have at least a year off and a major overhaul to make perfectly sure she would be safe to fly. The reason we were given for this not happening? It would be unfair to the people who come to see her.

It appear the spar issue is not something they are worried about at East Kirkby, should they want to make her go.

Much as I love the Lancaster, I think having one airworthy in the UK is enough. It makes PA474 the show stopper wherever she goes…. who can forget how the whole show will go quiet when you get that first hint of a rumble of Merlins in the distance..? Or how people stop in the street and watch her go by when she’s on her way to an event?

It’s nice to know that there is another one capable of flight (and potentially a third – wasn’t KB889 at Duxford rebuilt to airworthy standards?)

Should anybody with deep enough pockets decide they want a Lancaster to fly, it would make a memorable sight having two in the air at once in the same area. Remember all the hype when we thought the Canadian example would be coming over for a season?

For the moment though, dreams aside, I’m happy to go to East Kirkby, and stand watching in awe, dodgy spar issue or not. But; I’ll be at the front of the crowd watching if she does get the green light. Whatever the Pantons decide, it’s a million times better than the sad lonely old Lancaster I saw as a 3 year old guarding Scampton remembering past glories.

Regards

Ric

My guess is it is the retirement of the Lancaster from service in Canada. The one flying over is in Maritime rescue colours, and I’m pretty sure the one on the pole is FM136 . The codes and the plaque on the plinth correspond with this as she wore VH-N for a long time.

As for a year I would say 1963 or 64.

Rich

If it wasn’t for red tape idiots it would have been back here two years ago. Believe me when I say it wasn’t through lack of trying… I’ve been trying for a few years now to get all the permits in place to bring her back.

Mark;

It may be worth getting in contact with Jeremy Hall who built the Lancaster cockpit featured in Flypast a few years ago. It was built to original drawings, and he was the advisor for the build of a full size fuselage for the BBC programme “Night FLight” that is now at Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire.

Regards

Richard W