Discussion
Eric Mc said:
james S said:
Excellent programme!
Its seem completely absurd to me that only one Lancaster has been saved and is funded from the public purse.
I saw the only airworthy Vulcan flying last year, the situation is even worse; its funded privately and once again struggling to find the funding to stay in the air.
I have no particular interest in planes or the RAF, but for God's sake how on earth can this be?
Don't you really understand the huge effort required to keep these machines in the air (especially the Vulcan)?Its seem completely absurd to me that only one Lancaster has been saved and is funded from the public purse.
I saw the only airworthy Vulcan flying last year, the situation is even worse; its funded privately and once again struggling to find the funding to stay in the air.
I have no particular interest in planes or the RAF, but for God's sake how on earth can this be?
And who are you levelling the blame at for failing to have only one Lancaster flying in the UK (there is a flyable one in Canada too)?
How many flying Lancasters should there be and who should pay for them all?
We seem to spend gov't money on so many projects of marginal value, I'm just suprised that keeping a couple of working examples of important military aircraft doesn't fit a bit higher in the pecking order really. With the Vulcan, and I'm sure many others its a shame its left to volunteers who have to work very hard to keep th project alive and are fighting a contstant battle to find the funding, which they don't always look like winning.
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is almost completely funded by the taxpayer (they are allowed some sponsorship and commercial support). It flies a small fleet of historic RAF aircraft - Spitfires, Hurricanes, a DC-3, a couple of Chipmunks and, of course, the Lancaster. Not many Air Forces around the world do this. Even the mighty USAF does not have an historic flight of this type.
The Vulcan was retired from RAF service in 1983/84. The example that is flying today WAS actually kept flying as a display aircarft completely taxpayer funded for ten years up untiol 1993. At that stage, the airframe was essentially out of hours and required millions to get it recertified for flight. It was decided that it was just too much for the taxpayer to have to fund. Rather than scrap the aircraft, it was decided to sell the plane to a private consortium so that they could try and raise the funds to get it back in the air. That was eventually acheived a few years ago.
It is a bit unfair to criticise the government in this case. You cannot keep aircraft airworthy that are not available to be kept airworthy. As I said earlier, by the time the historic significance of World War 2 aircraft was properly appreciated by ANYONE (let alone governments), not many were left and quite a few were completely extinct. At best, there was perhaps a single example retained for static display at the RAF Museum or teh Fleet AIr Arm Museum.
I am grateful we have what we've got. The good news is that lake and tundra finds mean that the population of aircraft rising from the dead is gradually growing and there are more preserved and airworthy World War 2 aircraft flying today than at any point since the mid 1960s.
The historic preservation scene is quite healthy at the moment, despite the state of the world economy.
The Vulcan was retired from RAF service in 1983/84. The example that is flying today WAS actually kept flying as a display aircarft completely taxpayer funded for ten years up untiol 1993. At that stage, the airframe was essentially out of hours and required millions to get it recertified for flight. It was decided that it was just too much for the taxpayer to have to fund. Rather than scrap the aircraft, it was decided to sell the plane to a private consortium so that they could try and raise the funds to get it back in the air. That was eventually acheived a few years ago.
It is a bit unfair to criticise the government in this case. You cannot keep aircraft airworthy that are not available to be kept airworthy. As I said earlier, by the time the historic significance of World War 2 aircraft was properly appreciated by ANYONE (let alone governments), not many were left and quite a few were completely extinct. At best, there was perhaps a single example retained for static display at the RAF Museum or teh Fleet AIr Arm Museum.
I am grateful we have what we've got. The good news is that lake and tundra finds mean that the population of aircraft rising from the dead is gradually growing and there are more preserved and airworthy World War 2 aircraft flying today than at any point since the mid 1960s.
The historic preservation scene is quite healthy at the moment, despite the state of the world economy.
I thought it was a great show (much as the earlier Spitfire one was) and everyone above has said great things about the plans and crews.
To add to that I'd like to say I thought the BBC and McGreggor brothers where rather good, very well shot (as per usual for the Beeb) and the interviews where sensitive but didn't hold back, lastly the boys didn't make any song and dance, just presented honestly and gave a nice modern standpoint from which to view the events of WWII (Can't imagine some other A-list Hollywoods types would be so level headed)
Its programs like this that make me happy to pay the license fee despite the reality-dancing-on-X-idol-ice-vote-factor type shows.
To add to that I'd like to say I thought the BBC and McGreggor brothers where rather good, very well shot (as per usual for the Beeb) and the interviews where sensitive but didn't hold back, lastly the boys didn't make any song and dance, just presented honestly and gave a nice modern standpoint from which to view the events of WWII (Can't imagine some other A-list Hollywoods types would be so level headed)
Its programs like this that make me happy to pay the license fee despite the reality-dancing-on-X-idol-ice-vote-factor type shows.
Eric Mc said:
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is almost completely funded by the taxpayer (they are allowed some sponsorship and commercial support). It flies a small fleet of historic RAF aircraft - Spitfires, Hurricanes, a DC-3, a couple of Chipmunks and, of course, the Lancaster. Not many Air Forces around the world do this. Even the mighty USAF does not have an historic flight of this type.
The Vulcan was retired from RAF service in 1983/84. The example that is flying today WAS actually kept flying as a display aircarft completely taxpayer funded for ten years up untiol 1993. At that stage, the airframe was essentially out of hours and required millions to get it recertified for flight. It was decided that it was just too much for the taxpayer to have to fund. Rather than scrap the aircraft, it was decided to sell the plane to a private consortium so that they could try and raise the funds to get it back in the air. That was eventually acheived a few years ago.
It is a bit unfair to criticise the government in this case. You cannot keep aircraft airworthy that are not available to be kept airworthy. As I said earlier, by the time the historic significance of World War 2 aircraft was properly appreciated by ANYONE (let alone governments), not many were left and quite a few were completely extinct. At best, there was perhaps a single example retained for static display at the RAF Museum or teh Fleet AIr Arm Museum.
I am grateful we have what we've got. The good news is that lake and tundra finds mean that the population of aircraft rising from the dead is gradually growing and there are more preserved and airworthy World War 2 aircraft flying today than at any point since the mid 1960s.
The historic preservation scene is quite healthy at the moment, despite the state of the world economy.
EricThe Vulcan was retired from RAF service in 1983/84. The example that is flying today WAS actually kept flying as a display aircarft completely taxpayer funded for ten years up untiol 1993. At that stage, the airframe was essentially out of hours and required millions to get it recertified for flight. It was decided that it was just too much for the taxpayer to have to fund. Rather than scrap the aircraft, it was decided to sell the plane to a private consortium so that they could try and raise the funds to get it back in the air. That was eventually acheived a few years ago.
It is a bit unfair to criticise the government in this case. You cannot keep aircraft airworthy that are not available to be kept airworthy. As I said earlier, by the time the historic significance of World War 2 aircraft was properly appreciated by ANYONE (let alone governments), not many were left and quite a few were completely extinct. At best, there was perhaps a single example retained for static display at the RAF Museum or teh Fleet AIr Arm Museum.
I am grateful we have what we've got. The good news is that lake and tundra finds mean that the population of aircraft rising from the dead is gradually growing and there are more preserved and airworthy World War 2 aircraft flying today than at any point since the mid 1960s.
The historic preservation scene is quite healthy at the moment, despite the state of the world economy.
You cleary understand this a great deal better than I do and I'll bow to your superior knowledge.
It is such a great event to see these planes, be it the agility of the Spitfire I see over our house near Booker from time to time, or the unforgetable noise of the Vulcan. I'm glad somebody is doing it, and hope it continues so we don't have to dig them out of lakes in future.
Fabulous programme. Makes a refreshing change from some of the lower budget shows. One very minor error: the payload on the data sheet was a rather optimistic 608 tonnes! I think 10 tonnes would be correct. Still more than the B-29 though (9 tonnes). Those wee McGregors were great. I liked the MG. Are the Tornados in Afghanistan really not dropping any bombs? Seems odd.
Saw this on IPlayer - As has already been said, a very good documentary.
Particularly liked the fact it wasn't just Britain centric, and gave the views of German civilians who experienced first hand the devistation the Lancaster could bring.
Whilst people over here comment on the Blitz, and the distruction of Coventry, London, Liverpool and Manchester,and other Industrialised cities, it is all too easy to forget that we inflicted similar and in some cases greater destruction on Germany, and in particular the convienient forgetting of the attack on Desden.
I'm not saying it's wrong, and I'm not saying it's right, but it was war, and things happen that cannot, and should not be forgotten, no matter how horrible or how much it is regretted later.
Particularly liked the fact it wasn't just Britain centric, and gave the views of German civilians who experienced first hand the devistation the Lancaster could bring.
Whilst people over here comment on the Blitz, and the distruction of Coventry, London, Liverpool and Manchester,and other Industrialised cities, it is all too easy to forget that we inflicted similar and in some cases greater destruction on Germany, and in particular the convienient forgetting of the attack on Desden.
I'm not saying it's wrong, and I'm not saying it's right, but it was war, and things happen that cannot, and should not be forgotten, no matter how horrible or how much it is regretted later.
AndyNetwork said:
Whilst people over here comment on the Blitz, and the distruction of Coventry, London, Liverpool and Manchester,and other Industrialised cities, it is all too easy to forget that we inflicted similar and in some cases greater destruction on Germany
Yes, that was the general idea.Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff