And I wonder if the pannier still languishes in the scrapyard! Now if it had been from a Lanc it would have been preserved for the nation years ago!

Great little video. I notice there is a messerschmitt kr200 in the background at the end!

RIP

Ken Wallis was one of those who I thought would go on for ever.

So he did – thanks, Paul!:)

Now I have located the film…..http://www.davewindle.com/DEWart%20video1.htm

That’s ok. So long as his passing didn’t go unnoticed!

I should have put this in the Modern Military section under the heading:

Shortage of crew prompts RAF to recruit retired 578 sqn veterans for Maritime surveillance duties

Not quite: But

Just a quick note to say thanks to the Nimrod crew for giving an impromptu tour to three 578 squadron veterans on Saturday.

It was their annual reunion and they expected their usual scramble about their wartime steed but as there was a paid tour going on inside they couldn’t clamber aboard. (Personally if I’d paid a lot to be inside the Halibag and genuine, pilot, navigator and two flight engineers tuned up I’d have been happy to have them aboard, they would have never got away; the vets like nothing better than spending hours shooting a line to interested folk).

(578 Sqn aircrew try to blag their way onto the Halifax).

The youngest veteran was 89 but you wouldn’t have thought so as they climbed up the steps. A very informative talk followed and thanks to the crew for that. Harry Dobson told me later that he didn’t like the look of the flight engineers panel as it had too many dials, and later I spent a merry hour in the company of Fred Winter explaining to me that the Nimrod was lucky to have a heated bombay. Apparently it was no fun having a live 2000lb cookie hung up in a frozen Bombay. The ensuing story how they got rid of it over the North Sea, the emergency landing short of fuel at a fogbound airfield and his near Court-martial after sneaking off home kept us entertained for a good while.

(Fred Winter climbs aboard: – not bad for 89)

(Harry Dobson in the drivers seat).

What happened to the Hercules engines donated by the French air force to go on the Halifax at Elvington?

I believe the Hercs on the Halifax are the French ones, they removed all the ancillaries, (and I believe the gearing) to save weight.. So although they are in good nick they are non runners……

I confess I think it is a shame as the smells and crackling noises of Just Jane’s Merlins when she has finished her engine runs fill her hanger make you realise she is a living beast. It’s all a bit cold at YAM….. Though I do realise the impossibility of getting her running and the costs involved. I am just grateful that there is some form of a complete Halifax in this Country. Its pretty scandalous that there are so few survivors of one of our most important WWII aircraft. I hope to be with the 578 squadron veterans when they visit YAM shortly. It is a privilege to be in such brave company next to the stead they used.

Congrats on getting the Dakota breathing again, the hanger will soon be full of the smell of hot oil and a living airplane.

Also interested if anyone knows how the Radial engined Lanc performed against the Merlin?

I heard it performed quite well but the ceiling/range was reduced.

I was always told that it was down to engine positioning….. The Manchester/Lancaster had underslung engines which was a better design for inline water cooled engines so the lanc worked better with Merlins than the Hercules. The converse being true for the Halifax whose designers wanted radials all along and had the engines mounted along the wing chord. Hence the fact that the Halibag performance was transformed when they changed from Merlins to the Hercules, (why was the Hercules installation tried on the Halifax in 1942 but not put into production till late 1943 – hence the confusion over Mk numbers). – I also never understood why they didn’t try a more beefy radial like the Centaurus in the Stirling or Hali. That would have given a fair bit more grunt.

p.s. I’ve never liked this which plane was better malarky. They were all built to wartime pressures and specifications… It is the aircrew/groundcrew we should really remember. I just get a bit fed up of giving the Lancaster/Spitfire almost mythical status. So hats off to all those of you building the lesser known types.

Many thanks for all your replies – the good and the bad!
I’m personally a huge fan of the Lancaster Bomber – it moves me to tears whenever I see one as I think of what the boys went through back then, and the mighty plane they bravely crewed. An amazing feat, and one that needs to be remembered.

There were other bombers you know….. Whenever there is a WWII RAF film suggested the producers just cannot seem to get past Lancasters & Spitfires.

What is wrong with a Halifax crew, or Stirling or Wellington etc. The crews were equally as brave, their tales of bravery will reduce you to just as many tears and their planes were every bit as mighty….. Why oh why does it always have to be the Daily Mirror bomber? (That is what the crews of the “other” bombers called the Lanc). Go on and be a bit more creative.

The Yorkshire Air Museum has a good range of rear turrets (and a Halifax). There are at least two Wellington rear turrets attached to airframes in the UK.

I do wish you luck with the project, but please be a bit more imaginative by not perpetuating the Lancaster myth, reducing the other bombers to just a bit part in WWII history.