Dunsfold, UK. 23rd Aug, 2014. The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Avro Lancaster Mk. X World War 2 heavy bomber is in the UK for one month and provides the opportunity to see it and the the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Avro Lancasterflying together in the UK. The Canadian plane is dedicated to the memory of P/O Andrew Mynarski VC Credit: Niall Ferguson/Alamy Live News
Probably the most famous Allied bomber of the Second World War, the Avro Lancaster had impressive flying characteristics and operational performance. What is surprising is that such a fine aircraft should have resulted from Avro’s desperate attempts to remedy the defects of its earlier unsuccessful Manchester bomber. The prototype Lancaster, which flew in January 1941, was a converted Manchester airframe with an enlarged wing centre section and four 1145 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin Xs. The Merlins replaced two 1,760 hp Rolls-Royce Vulture engines, which had proved to be very unreliable. The modifications were an immediate success and such was the speed of development in wartime the first production Lancaster was flown in October 1941. The Museum's Lancaster Mk. X was built at Victory Aircraft, Malton in July 1945 and was later converted to a RCAF 10MR configuration. In 1952, it suffered a serious accident and received a replacement wing centre section from a Lancaster that had flown in combat over Germany. It served as a maritime patrol aircraft, with No. 405 Squadron, Greenwood, NS and No. 107 Rescue Unit, Torbay, Newfoundland for many years and was retired from the RCAF in late 1963. In 1977, it was acquired from the Royal Canadian Legion in Goderich, Ontario, where it had been on outside display. It was completely restored and flew again on September 24, 1988. The Lancaster is dedicated to the memory of P/O Andrew Mynarski and is called the “Mynarski Memorial Lancaster”. It is painted in the colours of his aircraft KB726 – VR-A, which flew with RCAF No. 419 (Moose) Squadron. Andrew Mynarski won the V C on June 13, 1944, when his Lancaster was shot down in flames, by a German night fighter. As the bomber fell, he tried to free the tail gunner trapped in the rear turret of the blazing aircraft. The gunner survived but Mynarski died from burns. The Canadian Lancaster visited the UK during September 2014 and flew with the RAF BBMF Lancaster at airshows in the UK
Size: 5000px × 3750px
Location: Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey UK
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2, air, aircraft, avro, bbmf, bomber, canadian, flying, lancaster, mk., mynarski, preserved, raf, show, war, world
