Lancaster Bomber

[tarkus]

The banner pic got me to wondering. Does anyone know what happened to the bomber? It's no longer in the park, they now have a couple of Spitfire fighter planes.

[davewindsor]

The banner pic got me to wondering. Does anyone know what happened to the bomber? It's no longer in the park, they now have a couple of Spitfire fighter planes.

It's sitting in an airport hanger in the Windsor Airport Museum at Windsor Airport. You can call the airport to book a tour. It was being restored by volunteers, but last I heard the main mechanic passed away and there wasn't a volunteer to take his place.

[GOAT]

It is still being restored but will never fly again. It will be able to taxi but that is about all. The pedestal installation caused the main fuselage to be hacked to bits. therefore the integrity of theplane was in doubt [[it should never have been put ona pedestal to begin with because of the weight of the wings).
I wish it would have been put on the Dieppe Riverfront park in a glass dome where people could enter and leave in a controlled atmosphere instead of hiding in a hangar at the airport. This is not an indictment of the volunteers, just a reality that many would agree with.

There is also a Mosquito Bomber that was salvaged from the arctic, that is also being restored there.

By the way I think you meant Lancaster Bomber Lancashire is a city in the UK.

[Hermod]

I
By the way I think you meant Lancaster Bomber Lancashire is a city in the UK.

Lancaster is a city in the UK. Lancashire is a county [[shire) in the UK.

"Caster" means it was an old Roman garrison post.

[Lowell]

Sorry the display damaged the bomber, but I really liked its display in Jackson Park flower gardens. [PS I corrected the thread title]

For context...






Canada paid dearly with their air force effort.

[Whitehouse]

Wikipedia still tells of a restoration to flying status. Currently there are two examples flying in the world, one in Canada and one in ther UK. I've seen it personally in 1995 when it flew over our city in formation with a B17. No doubt I will never see that again... This was on the 5th of May 1995, our national liberation day. I was invited to join a convoy of WWII vehicles. My ride was a Willys Overland Jeep with [[Jesus wept...) Austrian numberplates!! Well, the lads driving it were very nice chaps and you cannot hold them responsible for "Der Anschluss".


I have some nice pictures of the convoy with all that Detroit rolling stock. I you like I could scan a few.

Back on topic.
Currently there are 17 conplete Lancasters in the world and several incomplete ones like cockpit only or fuselage.

About the Windsor one:

Lancaster Mk 10P FM212 was withdrawn from RCAF service in 1962 and placed in storage. The city of Windsor, Ontario purchased the aircraft for use as a memorial and mounted it on a pedestal in Jackson Park in 1965. It was damaged by weather and poor maintenance and replaced by Spitfire and Hurricane replicas on 26 May 2005. Currently being restored by the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association, this Lancaster has been renamed "Bad Penny" to commemorate the first RAF Avro Lancaster into Holland during Operation Manna to save the Dutch from starvation in the closing days of World War II, 29 April 1945.[8] On 29 April 2007 [[to coincide with the 62nd anniversary of Operation Manna), FM212 was removed from storage in Jackson Park and towed to the Sears parking lot of Devonshire Mall where it was on display and open for tours through the aircraft. On 13 May 2007, FM212 was towed from Devonshire Mall to Windsor Airport where it is on display and undergoing extensive restoration to return the aircraft back to a flight worthy status over the next few years.

A second British Lancaster is also subject of a restoration to flying status.

Some time ago I started the a topic with the very same question.

Where's that bomber?

[Magnatomicflux]

It is still being restored but will never fly again. It will be able to taxi but that is about all. The pedestal installation caused the main fuselage to be hacked to bits. therefore the integrity of theplane was in doubt [[it should never have been put ona pedestal to begin with because of the weight of the wings).
I wish it would have been put on the Dieppe Riverfront park in a glass dome where people could enter and leave in a controlled atmosphere instead of hiding in a hangar at the airport. This is not an indictment of the volunteers, just a reality that many would agree with.

There is also a Mosquito Bomber that was salvaged from the arctic, that is also being restored there.

By the way I think you meant Lancaster Bomber Lancashire is a city in the UK.

I used to be one of the volunteers on FM 212 [[the Lanc). You're right fo the most part GOAT, but it wasn't the fuselage that was the issue. When the city put the up on the pedestal, they cut notches into the wing spars to weld an "X" of I-beams onto them which then was mated to the pedestal. The city never really knew what it was doing. When she was sandblasted for re-painting there was chips of paint flying off that consisted of 8 or 9 layers of latex outdoor house paint!!
Another member an I were the first to open the bombay doors since she went up and to our suprise the right door had almost fallen to the ground because whoever put it up cut clean thru the door hinge. I also remember taking the cowling for the oil pan / rad off one day and it dropped right thru everyones hands on to the scaffolding, since it was 200 pounds heavier than it should have been. That's 200 pound of bird shit folks. I had the innner right engine puke old oil on me thru the spark plug holes too when we spun the prop manually.

I also helped install the bomb-aimers nose bubble, and the new canopy. There was a mid-upper gun turret sitting at the airport back when I was part of the group. It was very cool to mess around in. Without the hydrolics attached or....shot out...there were a series of cranks a gunner would use to manually turn the turret, which quite frankly would have been impossible, chasing a 300 mph Me-109 like that.

One thing that really bugs me, is FM 212 was mothballed "in service"....INSIDE!!!!!!!! All of the others were stored OUTSIDE!!! This aircraft was in perfect operating condition when the city purchased it! One engine even has ZERO hours on it!

I helped carry...yup...carry all 500 pounds of that Mosquito prop into the hanger. When we received it the tips were all twisted in and it was just plain old metal coloured. I'm pretty sure the prop and the canopy frame...and maybe an engine, are all that was recovered. The whole thing was made of wood so nothing would have survived. The body it has now was cast from an original Mosquito body mould.

Here's a couple pics I took at last years air show......

Here's the Mosquito





Here's FM 212 aka "Bad Penny"....sorry...only took these two





Here's "Bad Penny"'s sister.....next off the assembly line FM 213

[douglasm]

I fount the posting on www.internationalmetropolis.com about a display of the plane at the Devonshire Mall in 2007, along with a timeline of the plane from construction to 1995. It's an interesting read.

http://www.internationalmetropolis.com/?p=371

Now, if someone would be kind enough to get CNR Pacific #5588 out of Dieppe Park and back running again......

[Magnatomicflux]

I fount the posting on www.internationalmetropolis.com about a display of the plane at the Devonshire Mall in 2007, along with a timeline of the plane from construction to 1995. It's an interesting read.

http://www.internationalmetropolis.com/?p=371

Now, if someone would be kind enough to get CNR Pacific #5588 out of Dieppe Park and back running again......

LOL! I just read you saying that about #5588 on that IM post! Currently I volunteer for the Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society, the group who maintains 5588, and 3 early ALCO's out in Amherstburg. With 5588, at the very least I wish we could afford to hire a crane and turn the ol girl around. Right now she's eternally running towards a pile of earth! It's a long shot douglasm, but I promise if I ever win a substantial lottery, she'll be my first project!

[douglasm]

Guess I'm a dreamer, but I would sure like to relive the days when 6167 pulled excursions out of Walkerville. There's a group in Durand who would like to restore GTW 4-6-2 5632 but have neither money or a clue about how to do it. Maybe we could hit 2 lotteries.

[Magnatomicflux]

Our group is looking into a steam engine purchase right now, but one we would really like is Canadian Pacific 2929. 2929 is a 4-4-4 Jubilee type capable of 117 1/2 MPH!

Then all we'd need is for CN to abandon either the CASO or the Chatham sub so we could really pull that throttle open!




http://www.flickr.com/photos/35138806@N08/4693275509/

[Whitehouse]

I think that particular Mosquito wasn't added to the list of survivors!

Always nice to know new discoveries are still made.

[kathy2trips]

Oh, man, that is one fine train.

[Rochelle St.]

It is still being restored but will never fly again. It will be able to taxi but that is about all. The pedestal installation caused the main fuselage to be hacked to bits. therefore the integrity of theplane was in doubt [[it should never have been put ona pedestal to begin with because of the weight of the wings).
I wish it would have been put on the Dieppe Riverfront park in a glass dome where people could enter and leave in a controlled atmosphere instead of hiding in a hangar at the airport. This is not an indictment of the volunteers, just a reality that many would agree with.

There is also a Mosquito Bomber that was salvaged from the arctic, that is also being restored there.

By the way I think you meant Lancaster Bomber Lancashire is a city in the UK.

The Avro Lancashire was a civillian airliner version of the Lancaster.

[GOAT]

Thanks for the corrections Hermod and Magnatomicflux.

I was on bad Penny when it was still up on the pedestal and I can't believe how small the interior was. Especially going from the cockpit to the back. I have pictures somewhere I think and If I can find them I will load them up.

The sandblasting was one of the dumbest thing the city [[or was it contracted out?) did. It destroyed the skin on the plane which is why in some pictures it looks so dimpled and wrinkly.

Just to hear her again and see her out always brings a large smile to my face and pride for those who went before and for those who never came home.

Lest We Forget.

[Magnatomicflux]

Imagine trying to climb over that main wing spar with a chute on your butt and the rest of your crap?! Funny how when in the pilot seat...you'd be shoulder to shoulder with your co-pilot. That sandblasting was done by a contractor, but they knew how sensitive the skin was. Apparently the latex paint did alot of damage, and it HAD to come off, but the sandblasting didn't help any. But boy did she look GREAT once she was painted properly! I swear though....it felt like I could push my finger thru her skin.

I used to love sitting in the pilots seat, unlocking the yoke and rudder controls....let my imagination run a bit. In Jackson park off to the south west of where she stood there's that Cricket feild. And I tell ya, from 18 feet up and 3-400 feet away...it suuuuure looked like a grass runway at some aerodrome in the English countryside lol.
I don't think I've ever heard a more beautiful sound than a Lanc. When you've got 4, 1500 hp, V-12 Rolls-Royce Merlins, mixed with Paddle Props cutting thru the air........*shiver* Brings a tear to my eye.
If you can't find your interior shots I have one I found of the cockpit, but I don't kow who's or where I found it so I'd rather not post it unless I have to.

Rochelle St. - I think you're thinking of the Lancastrian. Pretty damed close to the Lanc, that's for sure!
Here it is:


There was a 2 engined predesessor to the Lancaster called the Manchester...ironically one of the least successful of the RAF bombers, giving birth to one of the most.

[Magnatomicflux]

Oh...and Kathy, here's what 2929 should look like! This is only a few years ago.....don't know where I found this, sorry.
She's not alive, just pumped with steam fo a photo shoot. I tell ya.."Steamtown", the place that owns her should relly give her to a group if this is the best they can do....let her ROT!

[walkerpub]

We wrote some background info regarding Windsor's Lancaster bomber, known as The Bad Penny [[ ie- a bad penny always come back)

http://badpennybook.com/savinglanc.html

[Magnatomicflux]

Nice write-up walkerpub.

If I remember right, she never did see wartime service being built at wars end. However again IIRC, she has some of the most flying time of any Lancaster ever built. She had her turrets removed, extra fuel tanks installed and was used for Photo recon, mapping of the high arctic, search and rescue and so on.