The BBMF will be at Clacton on the Thursday (1610 – Lanc and 2 x Spitfire)

World’s Only two flying Lancaster Bombers to appear at RAFA Shoreham Airshow

The last two ‘LANCASTER BOMBERS’ still flying in the WORLD will come together to appear at this year’s SHOREHAM AIRSHOW on the 30th and 31st August.

“We are so honoured that we have been included on this display schedule, especially as it will be our 25th Anniversary Event. It was 25 years ago that the Lancaster from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight made a surprise fly past over, our then small Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) Shoreham Fete, at the Airport. Since then, subject to serviceability the Lancaster has appeared at all Shoreham Airshows,” said Derek Harber, Airshow Organiser.

The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Lancaster will depart from Hamilton, Ontario on August 4th to arrive in England on August 8th. The North Atlantic crossing will include en-route stops at Goose Bay, Labrador in Canada, Narsarsuaq in Greenland and Keflavik in Iceland prior to arriving in the UK.

These displays will celebrate the exceptionally close British/Canadian relationship and to commemorate the sacrifice and dedication of Commonwealth bomber crews and the professionalism of both nations’ air forces today.

Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum President and CEO, Sqn Ldr (Ret) Dave Rohrer C.D (and current Lancaster pilot), stated that the Trans-Atlantic crossing and visit to the BBMF is a “Once in a Lanc Time” event and will not happen again. Rohrer indicated that this year “A rare window of opportunity was identified to bring the last two flying Lancaster’s in the world together as a special salute to all the veterans of Bomber Command, many of whom are in their late 80s or older now.

“To showcase a flying display with both aircraft flying together (subject to serviceability) supported by other aircraft from the BBMF with be a unique tribute to all those that served in the time of need, in Canada, Britain and the entire Commonwealth that likely will never be seen again.”

Rod Dean, Shoreham Airshow Display Director has been working hard this year to make Shoreham’s 25th Airshow that bit different. “The Pair of Lancaster’s will be the ‘ICING ON THE CAKE’ but we have a lot more surprises including a totally revamped Airfield Attack and Scramble, which will link to the Anniversary of the ‘D Day Landings’. Alongside this will be display aircraft that have not been seen at Shoreham before including a US NAVY element featuring some ‘very’ historic aircraft.”

With up to 6 hours flying both days featuring over 60 participating aircraft – including the return of the RAF Typhoon – we are sure that visitors will be in for one of the best airshows held at Shoreham in its 25 year history! A true family day out, with opportunities to visit the many ground attractions, and see the aircraft flying, including the outstanding sight of two Lancaster’s in formation, with the unique backdrop of the South Downs, and Lancing College.

More information on the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum and its Lancaster can be found on http://www.warplane.com

For more information go to http://www.shorehamairshow.co.uk which is updated on a regular basis, or contact the Airshow office on 01273 441545 for Executive Area enquiries. Tickets can be purchased from over 90 retail outlets across Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey or via the ‘Ticket Hotline 01903 282360.

It has everything to do with your very ill-informed rant about airshow costs.

I can assure you no-one involved in running the Shoreham Airshow earns any money out of it – they are all volunteers. You seem, like others, to have the opinion that it is wrong for airshows to make money. They all need to make money to survive and in Shoreham’s case raise money for charity.

To put it in to context, the Shoreham Airshow flying display costs well over £100,000 in display act fees alone and that is only a fraction of the overall show cost. That figure does not include the fuel, airfield rent, CAA permissions, insurance (which rises year-on-year), security, publicity, road signage, showground infrastructure, tax and all the other major fees the show has to pay. Ticket sales do not cover all these costs and the show has to have sponsors to help cover the costs and donate some services for free.

The issue over standing outside of an airshow causes several issues for organisers. In a perfect world, the area underneath the displaying aircraft should be sterile – that’s just good common sense. However, things are not always perfect. Where there are built up or other sensitive areas underneath a display area, the display directors have to mitigate this by either requesting displays avoid these areas or fly above a certain height. However what does cause concern is when, like at venues such as Duxford, people manage to venture through fields to put themselves almost underneath display lines that are there to protect/reduce the risk to the main audience of the show.

RE: Shoreham – his flypast over the crowd was a result of getting out of position. In the post show wash-up meeting the Flying Control Committee reported he did what they expected him to do in the circumstances. He’d actually broken away from his display routine to reposition as it was a particularly dificult day weather wise with the cloudbase and visability just good enough. The Shoreham display area can be challenge with a number of areas that must be avoided.