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On Aug. 5, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s prized Avro Lancaster—otherwise known as “Vera”—began a long journey across the Atlantic. Her destination was Royal Air Force base Coningsby, where she would rendezvous with the only other flying Lancaster in the world. Owned and operated by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), the English Lancaster is known as “Thumper.”
On the afternoon of Aug. 8, several thousand RAF personnel, Second World War veterans and members of the public converged on RAF Coningsby to celebrate Vera’s arrival. Afternoon rain didn’t dampen their spirits, although it did ground the vintage aircraft that were supposed to escort her in.
Neil Hutchinson was one of the people waiting to witness the Canadian Lancaster’s arrival. A British aviation enthusiast who made the trek to Hamilton, Ont., in 2013 to see what was then the world’s only flying Mosquito, Hutchinson reported that minutes before Vera arrived, the rain stopped.
“We heard those magnificent Merlins, and out of the gloom came the wonderful slight of a huge black bomber—Vera had made it!” he wrote in an email to Skies. The applause was deafening.
The next few days were spent giving Vera a check-up, and then the big day arrived. For the first time in half a century, two Lancasters took to the air on Aug. 13. That first flight was followed by a performance at the Eastbourne International Air Show, and then several more sold-out appearances, including a memorable flight with the world’s only airworthy Avro Vulcan bomber on Aug. 21.
Then, on Aug. 29, the Canadian Lancaster performed a precautionary engine shutdown while performing at the Royal Canadian Air Force reunion at what was RAF Middleton Saint George, now Durham Tees Valley Airport. Vera landed safely with smoke streaming from her No. 4 engine, a telltale sign of a supercharger failure, according to Second World War vets who witnessed her arrival.
That was indeed the problem, and a new engine was obtained on loan from the BBMF. Crews worked non-stop to get Vera in the air once again. As of Sept. 3, the new engine had been installed and successfully tested on the ground, and Vera returned safely to RAF Coningsby.
Follow the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on Facebook for the latest updates on Vera’s UK tour, and to find out how you can help keep her flying.
