Gulp! Only 76 Days To Go!!
All the ANN'ers are
already counting the days before AirVenture 2006 gets underway in
Oshkosh, WI. As is tradition, we're all looking forward to
it with our usual mix of childlike wonderment and
anticipation... along with a gulp-inducing "to-do" list that seems
to double hourly... especially this year! (More on that to come
-- a grinning Ed.)
Of course, the folks at the EAA can relate to that, a hundred
times over... and they continue to whet appetites of
aero-enthusiasts all over with the latest announcement of another
rare aircraft that will be on display at Wittman Field.
EAA told Aero-News Monday that one of just two Lancaster bombers
left flying anywhere in world will be part of EAA AirVenture 2006.
This World War II bomber, from the Canadian Warplane Heritage
Museum, will be in Oshkosh for the 54th annual EAA fly-in
convention, The World's Greatest Aviation Celebration, on July
24-30.
The Lancaster bomber -- which has not been seen at Oshkosh since
1989 -- combines with the Commemorative Air Force's B-29 "FIFI" and
B-24 "Diamond Lil," and up to five B-17s to create an unprecedented
"Big Bomber Reunion" at this year's event.
"The legendary World War II warbirds are always among the
favorites of AirVenture visitors, and you will not see these great
airplanes together anywhere but Oshkosh," said Tom Poberezny, EAA
president and AirVenture chairman. "With the confirmed appearance
of the Lancaster from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, all
the great Allied bombers will be on display at AeroShell Square
this year. It's another reason you've got to be here this
year."
The bombers will be on
display throughout AirVenture week on the showcase AeroShell Square
and participate in the expanded Warbirds air shows during the week.
The "Big Bomber Reunion" will be an extraordinary part of these
shows, as these aircraft have not been flying in the same location
for decades.
The Lancaster, C-GVRA, was one of the 422 Mk X models built at
Victory Aircraft in Canada between 1943 and 1945. It saw service
with the No. 107 Rescue Unit at Torbay, Newfoundland as a maritime
patrol/search and rescue aircraft until retired by the RCAF in
1964.
Lancasters were powered by four Rolls Royce or Packard-built
Merlin engines and was the only aircraft capable of carrying the
22,000-lb. "Grand Slam" bomb. Between 1942 and VE Day (May 8,
1945), Lancasters participated in 156,000 sorties and delivered
two-thirds of Bomber Command's total bomb weight. The Lancaster won
a place for itself in history with the daring and precise bombing
raids on the Mohne and Eder dams in May 1943 and with the sinking
of the German battleship Tirpitz, in a well-defended Norwegian
fjord. Of the 7,366 Lancasters built during World War II, only two
are still flying today.
The Lancaster was acquired from the Goderich Legion in 1977,
with assistance from the Sully Foundation. Following a lengthy
restoration, it flew again on September 24, 1988. The aircraft is
painted in the wartime Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) markings of
the 419 Squadron, unit code VR-A aircraft in which P/O Andrew
Mynarski of Winnipeg was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross
for attempting to rescue the trapped rear gunner from his blazing
turret.
The Lancaster's appearance at Oshkosh was made possible through
the assistance and participation of EAA's Canadian members, led by
EAA Chapter 1410 of High River, Alberta.
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