WELCOME HOME: Lancaster Bomber Returns Home After 7 Hours Flying | BBMF RAF Coningsby | 04.05.22

The Lancaster bomber PA474 of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) and her crew were airborne for a commemorative flight into Belgium and the Netherlands on the 4th May 2022. The flight totalled around seven hours of flying whilst conducting fly-pasts over 19 sites across the two countries. The Ted Coningsby crew were there for her return home and as it involved Ted, the luck came. 1 Flypast & 2 'Touch & Go'.

This is just 1 of 2 airworthy Lancasters in the world, the other being in Canada. But most significant of all, is what the Lancaster (and the other aircrafts of the BBMF) represents; those that never came back, those who gave their lives and those that lost them. Lest We Forget…

Departure EGXC
Flypast Lierde, Belgium 1206
Flypast Alken, Belgium 1227
Flypast Sanicole, Belgium 1235
Flypast Heythuysen, Netherlands 1245
Flypast Gierle, Belgium 1300
Flypast & Stopover Gilze-Rijen, Netherlands 1314
Depart Gilze-Rijen, Netherlands 1600
Flypast Hank 1606
Flypast Werkendam 1611
Flypast Elst, Netherlands 1627
Flypast Grebbeberg 1633
Flypast Hulshorst, Netherlands 1645
Flypast Dronten, Netherlands 1653
Flypast Bathmen, Netherlands 1706
Flypast Markelo 1712
Flypast Den Ham, Netherlands 1721
Flypast Assen, Netherlands 1736
Flypast Texel, Netherlands 1805
Arrival EGXC 1900

Times above are L (Local Times +1hr)

The Avro Lancaster is the most famous and most successful RAF heavy bomber of WW2. The "Dambusters" carried out the famous Operation Chastise, an attack on German dams carried out on the night of 16th and 17th May 1943 by 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, using special "bouncing bombs" developed by Barnes Wallis.

There were two main types of engine used in the Avro Lancaster Bomber. The Rolls-Royce Merlin, and the Bristol Hercules. The majority of aircraft built, [95%] used the Rolls-Royce Merlin, 60 degree, V12, petrol engine. The Merlin, was water cooled [30% Glycol], using wet-liner technology. Serious design of the Merlin, started around 1933. Its flying days started in 1935, giving a good span of development time before being required in volume for Aircraft to defend our Nation, during 1939-45. When the first Merlin I was built, Rolls-Royce employed less than 7,000 people. By the end of World War II, the Company employed over 55,000 people.

For the last three years of World War Two the Avro Lancaster was the major heavy bomber used by Bomber Command to take the war to the heart-land of Nazi Germany.

With an impressive performance and excellent flying characteristics it soon established its superiority over other allied four-engined bombers operating in Europe.

The industrial and military organisation needed to build and operate the Lancaster was huge. Six major companies built 7377 aircraft at ten factories on two continents; at the height of production over 1,100,000 men and women were employed working for over 920 companies.

The Lancaster’s operational career is littered with impressive statistics, some are set out below, but it is worth remembering that the average age of the seven-man crew was only 22 years. They endured danger and discomfort and many showed great courage in continuing to fly knowing the odds against survival were high. Bomber Command suffered the highest casualty rate of any branch of the British services in WW2.

On average Lancasters completed 21 missions before being lost.
Lancaster PA474 was built at the Vickers Armstrong Broughton factory at Hawarden Airfield, Chester on 31st May 1945, just after VE Day. The war in the Far East ended before she was deployed and she did not take part in any hostilities.

Powered by the 4 Rolls-Royce XX V12 engines, it pumps out 1,280 hp (954 kW) each! She will get a top speed of 282 mph (246 knots). The wing span is an impressive 31.09 metres (just under 3 wingspans of Typhoons) and is 21.11 m in length. She would have a capacity of 7 crew; pilot, flight engineer, navigator, bomb aimer/nose gunner, wireless operator, mid-upper and rear gunners.

More Info and Links:

BBMF
https://www.raf.mod.uk/display-teams/...
AVRO SYTEMS
http://www.avrosystems.co.uk/bomber/e...
RAF MUSEUM
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research...
BAE SYSTEMS
https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/heri...


Official Ted Coningsby Merchandise:
www.tedconingsby.co.uk

Ted Coningsby Membership:
Join our channel to get access to members only perks. In reality, we rely on your subscriptions to keep our channel growing, so this is a MASSIVE help and thank you to ALL of you who have subscribed. We go all over the country to get the footage we need for you to enjoy but this comes at a cost. You membership will help fund us with the fuel and the equipment we need...
   / tedconingsby  

Insta
  / ted_coningsby  
Facebook
  / tedconingsbyuk  
www.tedconingsby.co.uk

#bbmf #lancaster #rafconingsby