The Canadian Avro Lancaster bomber FM213 has made the long flight across the Atlantic to the UK. Seen after landing at RAF Coningsby taxiing in with national flags
Late in February of this year it was announced that a very rare ‘window of opportunity’ was available to bring together the worlds remaining airworthy Avro Lancasters - PA474 of the Royal Air Forces Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and C-GVRA of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum - for one last never to be repeated salute to the heroes of Bomber Command. Dubbed as a ‘Once in a Lanc Time’ event. With just 17 examples of the Avro Lancaster remaining in the world, including both PA474 and C-GVRA, the chance to see the last two remaining airworthy examples of the type in the same piece of sky is something many aviation enthusiasts, old and new, have only ever dreamt of. First taking to the air in August 1945, the story of how Avro Lancaster X FM213 became the heart of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum is one of jinxes, luck, inspiration and sheer determination. The relationship between the United Kingdom, Canada and the Lancaster started back during the Second World War with huge numbers of Canadians flying and fighting with Bomber Command, and such was the scale of their involvement some 18% of all of the Bomber Command losses were Canadian. As well as the brave airmen who joined the war effort, Canada was also chosen to locally produce the Lancaster along with other Allied aircraft, with the first example rolling off the production line just over 70 years ago – August 1st 1943. The Royal Air Force's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (CWHM), being the only two operators of airworthy Lancasters, have worked in conjunction with one another since the late 1980’s when Squadron Leader Tony Banfield of the BBMF flew over to Canada to test fly C-GVRA after an 11 year restoration.
Size: 5150px × 3412px
Location: RAF Coningsby, Lincs, UK
Photo credit: © Avpics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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