Lancaster fire

[central]

A friend has just posted on facebook.

"Emergency landing at RAF Coningsby, engine fire. Crew abandons the aircraft through emergency exits. All OK fire crew got it out"

[Lurking Lawyer]

Bugger. Hope it's not serious.

[V8LM]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ve-day-raf-bo...

[Waynester]

Oh fook....glad it was put out quickly!!

[ecsrobin]

That image is after it got taken off the runway and covers removed. There is a low res image of it airborne with fire on Twitter.

[tight5]

[ecsrobin]

Possibly painted at Coningsby today....

[dr_gn]

It flew over our house with an engine out a while back. Shut down as a precaution after an oil leak IIRC.

[CrutyRammers]

Yikes! Looks like they caught it in time though.

[Eric Mc]

There are 10 or so Lancs already sitting inert in a number of museums. We should endeavour to keep at least one flying.

[Waynester]

This is a risk when flying any old Warbird, but an acceptable risk in my opinion. It's certainly far preferable to seeing her locked in a permanent 'coma' in some static museum.
Considering the complexity to operating these aircraft, the safety/incident record is outstanding. Obviously all the BBMF aircraft receive the best care, attention & maintenance possible..but you can never remove all risk.

[Galveston]

Eric Mc said:

We should endeavour to keep at least one flying.

Absolutely. I love looking at aeroplanes in museums, but nothing like as much as I love seeing them in the sky.

I attend three or four airshows each summer - but only the ones that the Lancaster is flying at. It's the star attraction for me, it's just a wonderfully emotive experience to see Thumper in the skies.

I hope they can patch her up and get her flying again soon.

[Dr Jekyll]

Waynester said:

This is a risk when flying any old Warbird, but an acceptable risk in my opinion. It's certainly far preferable to seeing her locked in a permanent 'coma' in some static museum.
Considering the complexity to operating these aircraft, the safety/incident record is outstanding. Obviously all the BBMF aircraft receive the best care, attention & maintenance possible..but you can never remove all risk.

+1

There is some risk even in a museum.

[Eric Mc]

As the Canadians found out a few years ago.

When an aeroplane is the only example left anywhere in the world, then maybe flying it may not be such a good idea. But when there are a reasonable number of preserved examples, then keeping at least one airworthy is worthwhile.

[ecsrobin]

ash73 said:

If people want to see a Lanc flying they should build a replica.

There's enough in a museum as already stated.

[kurt535]

Unlike vintage cars, the worst thing to do with an aeroplane is not fly it. They just multiply their tech problems. There will, definitely, come a time when the airframes get naturally grounded due to

-no av gas
-CAA stopping use of newly machined parts to be included in engine/airframe
-metal delaminates and actual key parts' physical structure breaks down (as the WW1 tanks are in museums at the moment)

But until then, my little 1946 Cessna C 120 dragger will continue to add to her 5000 hours and I hope we continue to restore aircraft such as the Lanc at East Kirkby to flying condition.

[dr_gn]

kurt535 said:

Unlike vintage cars, the worst thing to do with an aeroplane is not fly it. They just multiply their tech problems.

Pretty irrelevant if it's a static museum exhibit.

[Dr Jekyll]

dr_gn said:

kurt535 said:

Unlike vintage cars, the worst thing to do with an aeroplane is not fly it. They just multiply their tech problems.

Pretty irrelevant if it's a static museum exhibit.

There are plenty of static museum exhibits that ended up being scrapped because they simply corroded to the point where they were liable to fall to bits.

EG Blackpool Vulcan, Cosford airliners.

[dr_gn]

Dr Jekyll said:

dr_gn said:

kurt535 said:

Unlike vintage cars, the worst thing to do with an aeroplane is not fly it. They just multiply their tech problems.

Pretty irrelevant if it's a static museum exhibit.

There are plenty of static museum exhibits that ended up being scrapped because they simply corroded to the point where they were liable to fall to bits.

EG Blackpool Vulcan, Cosford airliners.

If it was a simple choice between flying it or not flying it, then surely the cost of maintaining it in on the ground in good condition wouldn't be a financial issue? A fairly rare and historically important aircraft such as a Lancaster would simply be prepared for long term storage and shoved in a hanger irrespective of whether it flown or not.

[LotusOmega375D]

I remember watching as the Lanc lost an engine whilst displaying at Southend 10 - 15 years ago. They shut it down and landed without drama back at Southend. It stayed on the apron for a few more unscheduled days, whilst they effected the repairs but was soon right as rain and off again. It happens from time to time.