WW2 bomber to miss flying season for maintenance

The Avro Lancaster PA474 based at RAF Coningsby is the world's oldest airworthy Lancaster bomber

The UK's last flying Lancaster bomber is to undergo months of maintenance meaning it will not feature in air displays next year.

The Avro Lancaster PA474 is based at the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, and flies at public events alongside the squadron's Hurricane and Spitfire fighters

An RAF spokesperson said the routine work would start "following the conclusion of the 2025 display season".

The aircraft's pilot, Squadron Leader Paul "Ernie" Wise said the maintenance work was about preserving "our nation's heritage".

"We do want to keep them flying indefinitely," he said.

"In order to do so, they have to be taken offline from time to time to go through an in-depth maintenance procedure for a major servicing.

"It tends to be every eight years or so and it will be stripped down, so there's nothing new but fingers crossed at a speedy return."

Sqn Ldr Wise said during next year's display season the fighters would fly alongside the unit's C47 Dakota transport aircraft.

"It's really our unsung hero," he said.

"Primarily our training aircraft, so without that we can't progress the crews any further.

"So our three-ship formation, for example, can still go ahead."

The BBMF was founded in 1957 at RAF Biggin Hill.

In addition to the Lancaster and Dakota, the team has five Spitfires, two Hurricanes, and two Chipmunk aircraft, used for training.

The aircraft are flown by regular RAF aircrew and take part in state occasions such as the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London as well as public displays and air shows.

The Lancaster often flies alongside other aircraft from the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

Sqn Ldr Wise said being a pilot was a boyhood dream and captaining the Lancaster was a huge privilege.

"The noise, the vibration, the smell, the physical attack on the senses, but also the emotional attack on the senses," he said.

"You can't comprehend that there were at least 55,000 people, volunteers of Bomber Command that did not make it home."

"It is not lost on us that every time we get airborne, we are flying with the souls of at least 55,000 people on our shoulders."

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