Canadian Lancaster

I saw this airplane at Abottsford in 1990-91. Beautiful plane and wonderful sounds.

 

Bob, I was at that airshow with a Weasel F-4G. It was the 30th anniversary show and it rained for the first time.

 

The Eagle has landed..

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We crossed the border yesterday at Abottsford on the way to Chilliwack. Saw the air show going on - very impressive- saw some Canadian Acrobatic team of 10 jets. Skyhawks maybe?

 

John- That would have been the CAF's Snowbirds. Had a friend while in NATO who flew for them. They also have a smaller CF-18 demonstration team.
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Not particularly attractive planes... but 'tools' to deliver ordinance.

The Short Stirling was even more ungainly.

They almost make the B-24 look good... almost, but not quite.

 

I knew several of them and the only survivor ended up in a mental ward near the end of the war. There was no copilot, just a pilot, navigator, flight engineer, and a bomb aimer. The Germans had it figured very well with their night fighters equipped with a battery of 30mm canon firing out of the top of the ME 110's. Lancaster crews were slaughtered either by the fighters or flak. The Lancaster was a great airplane and a beautiful one. All flight crews then were brave as hell and knew that their chances of survival were slim but they did what they did without complaint. People now will never know what they endured.

 

Bob- Just like the US B-17s and B-24s, losses were horrendous until escort fighters became available once the German Schrage Musik and radars were deployed. Remember the stories of the RAF night fighter aces being fed carrots to improve night vision because the radars they carried were classified? Quite a few night fighter aces, most of which were for killing incoming raiders until they began support/escort operations. The thought of flying at all close to a large formation of bombers with a range only radar scares the snot out of me. Especially since the bombers had no way of telling what was friend or foe in the dark.

 

You're correct, Taz. I was friends with an ex- Mosquito night fighter Ace who was an American flying for the RAF. He had 17 night victories and loved the Mosquito. He shot down JU 88, Me 110, and said that the JU 88 was almost an equal to the Mossy in a dog fight and he felt good to help clear the night skies of them. He had some real interesting stories.

 

Bob- I spent most of my career flying around in the dark on terrain following radar, so I can empathize with him. Sure makes for a pretty light show when they are shooting at you, but we had no offensive capability. AIM-9s were authorized but seldom, maybe once, fitted in combat.

 

Also read that it was almost impossible to get out of a Lancaster with a chute on. The forward hatch was too small.

 

The Vulcan was the same. So tight that you couldn't hardly move in normal situations.

 

I can imagine that you have some good stories to tell after doing that kind of flying, relying on terrain following boxes. They always manage to increase the pucker factor.