Noj Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 (edited) The day finally arrived, after months of waiting, for my taxy ride in 'Just Jane' at the Linclonshire Aviation Heritage Centre, ,operating from the former WW2 Bomber base of East Kirkby : http://www.lincsaviation.co.uk/about/ Although NX611 never saw active service, she is kitted out and restored in late 1945 fashion. As a 'crew member' and guest, we had our mission briefing at 09:40, during which we were informed that the blue rope placed around Jane was ours to cross at will... Two groups had taxy rides, mine being in the afternoon, so the following footage was taken of the morning 'riders' heading out: (not got the most modern of digital cameras, so please forgive the slightly dubious sound/vision quality) After lunch, I had my taxy and we got to look round the whole interior, and sit in each position (except the front nose gunner position). Pics of that to come, here's some footage our lass took of my taxy (she thought I was in the tail gunners position, however I was actually with two other 'crew' in the mid upper turret!) A truly amazing and humbling experience. We paid our respects to the fallen, in the Chapel: over 800 men lost their lives in 21 months of ops from EK during WW2, contributing to the overall total of RAF personnel killed of over 55,500. Being inside the Lanc, it becomes all too apparent why so many crew perished, with a maximum 10 second window to exit the aircraft. So narrow, with huge obstacles (including the main spar and wing spar) to cross was a struggle in jeans and a t-shirt, let alone a full flying suit, sheepskin jacket, boots, mae west and parachute.... Sitting in the rear gunner position was truly frightening. The turret is open to the elements at both sides, and via the spent cartridge exhaust chutes. Flying at 20,000ft, the air temp would be - 40, your rubber air pipe would freeze, there was a risk of hypothermia and exposure (gunners smeared goose grease/vaseline on the exposed skin on their faces), the rubber on the goggles would freeze to the face, the electrical connections in your gloves and boots would short, causing you to start smoking, you couldn't get out for a pee, and had 3 minutes of ammo. A typical bombing run to Germany was a 9 hour round trip. As the perspex windows froze, one squadron ordered removal of the centre section entirely to give clear line of sight. Any liquid coming from the aircraft (petrol, oil, the pilot's pee) would travel down the airframe, then blow straight into the rear gunner's face..... Anyhoo, that's all for now, will sort out some pics of the interior etc in due course Edited July 2, 2014 by Noj 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carpmart Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 WOW, pretty jealous if I'm honest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tug Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Truly amazing that you can get a ride in one of these! Was it deafening? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 It was noisy, especially with the engines opened up, however the whole airframe and everything bolted to it creaks and bangs, especially when off the tarmac and onto the grass. 1.6mm of ally skin covers the frame, that's it; no sound proofing, lots of exposed wiring, the rods which control the rear fins, mounts for flares, parachutes, the homing pigeon... I have taken footage on my phone from inside the turret bubble, so that will hopefully convey some of the experience (albeit with chatter from us 'crew' lol). You can pre-book a taxy ride, they sell out fast though! Or, if you're feeling particularly flush, it is possible to take an hour's flight on the Canadian Lanc (which is flying over to the UK this September, and will be pairing with the BBMF Lanc for a flyover of EK) for $2500 Canadian....THAT is on my bucket list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldman Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Wow,what a treat,bet them Merlins sound real nice,i went on a B17 when I was over in the US,like you say in Wartime conditions hard to imaging what it must have been like at all.Nice one. Goldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autobutcher Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Amazing! Once I got all excited when the mrs found a Spifire flight day, ready to sell both kidneys and the mrs when I found it was a rid in a heli while the Spit flew past you, gutted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(-:AD:-) Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 I look foward to more pictures. very nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Ok, here are some lovely close up shots of Just Jane: hopefully this shows the gap between the rear turret and the rest of the aircraft This is the chute for the expended .303/.50 cartridges, again, totally open to the ingress of outside air. originally, lancs were fitted with quad .303 rear guns, however, these were swapped for twin .50 cal as the war progressed: The Bomb bay; the Lanc was designed bomb bay first, and the rest of the aircraft was designed after this, clearly indicating it's exact purpose: Bomb release mechanism: Loading instructions: The front, looking up from ground level: Where I was standing for my taxy (note, gun barrels only are real, inside there is a crude wooden bracket to which they are attached) NO idea who this bloke is, giving the international sign of metal to a photographer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 The museum's main hanger also plays home to some of the many, many recovered parts of downed aircraft, Allied and Axis: Spotted this RC beast also....a mark-1-tanks Tiger, 1/6th scale (where much of my hard earned was spent before returning to RC...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Awesome photos, I'm jealous. Who makes those 1/6th tanks? Don't you still have one hidden away somewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 Mark-1-tanks do the full metal, sixth scale RC tanks, and 1/4 scale also!! Sadly, the Tiger was oop last time I looked. Priced one up many moons ago, came to over 6k, iirc....so I never bothered. I do have a sixth scale kit of a late model Tiger, boxed and in the loft (which I am sure comes as no surprise ) made by Field of Armour and long OOP, hence incredibly rare (esp as I have the add on kit that was released, and a tub of zimmerit paste)... It could be built up as RC, although is abs plastic, not metal. When we move, I may just have the room for it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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