REUNION OF GIANTS: The Only Two Avro Lancasters [CBD]

7377 built, and these two are the only ones flying. A documentary of the project and the flights of these last two bombers to Lincolnshire, where they flew together, will be released this summer.

It has been 50 years since two Avro Lancaster Bombers flew side by side. These marvels of mechanical engineering, part of a proud lineage that is credited with bringing an end to WWII, finally met high above the English Countryside this past summer. Making that reunion possible was a monumental task.

In early August, The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Avro Lancaster, Vera, flew from Hamilton, Ontario to meet her British counterpart, Thumper--the only other surviving flight worthy Lancaster Bomber in the world--the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) Lancaster in England. It was a mission unlike any other this Lancaster had ever undertaken; flying thousands of miles across the ocean, requiring multiple landings on remote runways from Goosebay to Iceland to make it across the vast Atlantic Ocean, and a crew that was on their own, far away from any mechanical support or facilities that keep the plane flying. If anything went wrong, needed to be repaired or replaced, they had very limited options to get the Lancaster flight worthy to continue the journey.

posted by Open Blogger at 12:55 PM

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