Header image: BBMF Lancaster PA474 flies over the recovery site of Lancaster R5682 on 3rd October.
One of the very last events of the 2017 display season for BBMF Lancaster PA474 was a flypast on 3rd October over a site in the Netherlands to honour the crew of Lancaster R5682 ‘QR-R’ of 61 Squadron which was shot down on 5th September 1942 with the deaths of three of the crew. The other four crew members spent the rest of the war incarcerated as POWs.
This month, we’re excited to be giving away three copies of a newly published book about the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Three lucky Club members will win a copy of the hardback book, which features superb air-to-air portraits of the Flight’s aircraft by renowned aviation photographer John Dibbs, alongside carefully restored archive images that bring the realities of war into sharp focus and remind us that these machines were designed for fighting.
The RAF Memorial Flight Club’s very own publications editor, former OC BBMF, Clive Rowley, provided the words for the book. He details the Flight’s history and its current activities, but the majority of the text consists of insightful and moving quotes, interviews and short stories by wartime aircrew who flew the types of aircraft now operated by the BBMF.
The RAF Memorial Flight Official Club Autumn Journal for 2017 will be sent out to members in the next couple of weeks. The 72-page magazine is packed with stunning photographs of the BBMF aircraft, many of them taken this year and previously unpublished. It also contains fascinating feature articles providing insights into the Flight’s operations, the history of its aircraft, and stories from the Second World War.
This issue is unashamedly Lancaster orientated. The regular “Focus on…” feature this time spotlights Lancaster PA474 and the aircraft’s remarkable history, as well as the many colour schemes it has worn over the years. Seb Davey tells us in his own words what it is like to fly the ‘Lanc’ as a pilot and captain, and we also look at the roles and duties of the BBMF Lancaster flight engineer, explained for us by the BBMF Flight Engineer Leader, Jim Stokes.
