Avro Lancaster

Lincolnshire's Lancaster Association Makes Symbolic Donation
by Tom Allett at 21:04
When the Canadian Mynarski Memorial Lancaster Bomber takes to the skies tomorrow (Tuesday September 23rd) and says farewell to Lincolnshire, she will be carrying an extra special 'payload'.

Lincolnshire's Lancaster Association has presented the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum - which brought the wartime plane over to England - with a cheque for 10,695 Canadian dollars.

Association Chairman, Ray Bainborough, said: "We wanted to say a fond farewell to the Canadian Lancaster and her crew, who have been hosted by the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at Coningsby, by presenting the Canadians with this donation.

"The figure of 10,695 is very significant. That is the number of Royal Canadian Air Force servicemen who died while flying with Bomber Command in the Second World War. It is extremely important that we remember them and their sacrifice."

The Association decided to give some of its own funds to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum after an appeal went out for help after the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster suffered engine problems in late August.

That incident forced the bomber to return to Durham Tees Valley Airport (the site of the former RAF Middleton St George, where the original Mynarski Lancaster was stationed), after taking off on a short flight.

Some rescheduling of a heavy programme of the events for the crew were inevitable. But, after being fitted with a spare Merlin engine – courtesy of the RAF's BBMF – a few days later the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster was back in the skies again.

During the aircraft's time with the BBMF, it has taken to the skies with the Flight's own Lancaster, PA474, thrilling hundreds of thousands of people. It was a particularly poignant occasion when both Lancasters flew over the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre's taxiing Lancaster, Just Jane, at the centre's East Kirkby airfield.

The Canadian Lancaster is due to leave RAF Coningsby at 10am tomorrow morning (Tuesday, Sept 23) and will be flying over Lincoln Cathedral as she embarks on her 3,700 mile flight home to Ontario.

"It has been absolutely fantastic to have the Canadian Lancaster in the county. She has been an absolutely amazing sight for people of all ages, who have had the privilege of seeing the only two remaining airworthy Lancasters in the world flying together.

Skywatchers have witnessed history in the making," said Mr Bainborough.