Stopped by the Warplane heritage museum. One of my favourite places. Houses one of two Lancaster bombers left in the world that are air worthy. Flies over my house in the Summer regularly. VERY cool.
Not a bad day at all. Bit cold though but thats OK. Talked to the management about getting the car into the hanger or in front of the hanger for some pics with the Lancaster. Hes going to email me and let me know what they come up with. Told him I'd be happy to make a donation of course. He figures he can pull it off if I am just outside the hanger. The Lanc is parked right at the doors so outside would be fine. My 2 favourite pieces of machinery. A Lancaster bomber and my little Maverick.
It sounds awesome low flying over my house. I cant imagine those poor buggers in Germany with hundreds of these things in the sky.
There's a guy that flys a P-51D over work sometimes...it sounds awesome. I can only imagine what 4 sound like.
4 times as AWESOME. :bananaman They had to replace one a few years back. Cost 110 grand and came out of a California builder somewhere. Apparently they werent really designed to be rebuilt. Spent an hour talking with an old fellow who went nuts with info when he found out I am a Mechanic. Hes used to tear them down and fix them in the war. They have a great cut away engine so he was showing me all the issues they had with them.
Are the Merlins still used in pwr boat racing? I figure they shud be pretty scarce by now. I believe the Merlins were replaced by turbo-props.
They are getting scarce. When he was showing the rebuild issues you can see how some of the earlier ones cant be fixed. The way the rocker shafts were designed they destroy'd the heads when they failed. They have to be perfect to fly obviously. Not much room for band aid repairs. Especially now, in the Lancaster. With only 2 left flying they take no chances with this plane. It flies a lot mind you but costs a ton of money to up keep. Tires are a big expense. They basically ran out of them and had to have them custom built. I think I have successfully hi jacked my own thread. Sorry Stephan.
