Big Flyer at local RSPB reserve

Well as the topic titel says, shot today from my local RSPB reserve, in between snapping the smaller stuff

A Lancaster Bomber if my memory serves me right, C&C from all you aircraft gurus welcome.

[IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j168/impotentspider/IMGP3315.jpg[/IMG]

Not just a Lancaster bomber but THE Lancaster Bomber. The worlds last flying example I believe and the center piece of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF)..... awesome!

You lucky b*gger.

WOW if thats true then a rare chance capture

I just copied this of wikipedia. Still a rare capture but shoots me down (pardon the pun) about the last flying example bit.

'There are 17 known largely complete Avro Lancasters remaining in the world with two airworthy. One of them is based in the UK, operated by The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the other is in Canada, operated by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Lancaster FM-136 was purchased by Lynn Garrison, in 1961, and displayed in Calgary, Alberta as a memorial to those who trained under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. It is now being returned to flying condition'.

It seems if Wikipedia is correct, that the Battle of Britian one is currently the only flying example. The Canadian one will not be flying until 'returned to flying condition'
Though how it can be 'Airworthy' whilst not in 'Flying condition' confuses me!

Excellent luck and excellent shot. K.

Can't find that one in my Observers book of birds .
Brilliant photo.

When any aircraft is deemed to be airworthy, it means that the Aviation Authority has passed it as suitable and safe to fly. Flying condition is mostly cosmetic. Suppose you had an old car that had passed it's MOT test, then it is said to be "roadworthy", but to get it into "driving condition", you might respray it, fit new seats, fit a new carpet, new radio etc.
Probably not a very good analogy but I hope this explains it.


PS I used to hold a Private Pilots Licence a few years ago when I was younger.

Nice and opportunistic capture

The noise must have been awsome

I once held a pilots licence but had to hand it back to the pilot once he realised I had it ( a friend of mine is a pilot)

Great luck! and a nice capture. There's a bit more about this particular aircraft here:

link

Cheers

Great image but no chance of getting a pair

It seems the Canadian one was grounded in 2009 after corrosion was found in some of the prop blades. They raised some money and it's apparently flying again.

It's certainly on the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum flying schedule, and there certainly seem to be some recent photos of it in the air.

I don't think Eagle is quite right in his suggestion that 'flying condition' refers to cosmetic details only.

In the UK, 'Airworthy' means that the aircraft has a valid certificate of airworthiness, issued by the relevant authority. This isn't revoked when an aircraft is inspected and a fault found.

Aircraft are required to have regular inspections, and once they've passed, they get a document called a 'Certificate of Release to Service' issued by the maintenance organisation.

If a fault is found, then depending on what it is, the aircraft won't get this release certificate until the fault is rectified. So it's not in 'flying condition' until the fault has been fixed and the Certificate of Release to Service issued.

I believe the Canadian authorities operate in a similar way to ours.

The vibration from these old planes is phenomenal. Even the two engined Mosquito (before it crashed) shook the ground as it growled its way across Southport a few years ago.

Terrific shot Alan but I reckon it must have scared all the birds away.
David