Memorial to the thousands of crew in Bomber Command who died in World War Two
Hundreds of veterans attended
Flyovers by planes including the Vulcan and a Dakota
Historian Dan Snow presented the event with Earl Howe cutting the ribbon
Updates from Friday 2 October
Ben Truslove
BBC News Online
The ceremony to mark the unveiling of the memorial and its spire is now over.
I hope we did the Bomber Boys justice covering what was a fitting and moving ceremony.
The Vulcan, which ended the celebrations at the Bomber Command Memorial Centre, was designed by Roy Chadwick, the same engineer behind the Lancaster bomber.
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Len McNamara was a rear gunner, initially in a Halifax Bomber and later a Lancaster and was one of only two of his first crew to survive the war.
Mr McNamara told Radio Lincolnshire: "[Bomber Command} were treated very well during the war. When it ended we were treated like dirt.
"We were all made redundant or shipped off abroad out of the way."
One of the most famous missions to fly out of Lincolnshire was the Dambusters raid.
The BBC documented the daring attack and - for the first time - brought together a picture of every crewman involved.
In the piece you can learn who survived, who was captured, where they were from and more.
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Former bomb aimer Les Rutherford has been speaking about his lucky escape from an exploding plane over Germany.
Les Rutherford from North Hykeham was a bomb aimer with 50 Squadron at RAF Skellingthorpe
He lost consciousness after the order to abandon the plane but woke up hurtling towards the ground, trapped in the nose cone.
Thankfully his parachute deployed and he made a safe landing. After two days walking, wishing German commuters a guten morgen, he was eventually captured.
The MacRobert's Reply, which flew over the memorial, was first funded by Lady MacRobert after she lost all three of her sons in flying tragedies.
The first craft to carry the name was a Short Stirling bomber and ever since 15 Squadron has operated one plane called the MacRobert's Reply. Today's plane is a Tornado.
Radio Lincolnshire has modestly tweeted this footage of the noisy Vulcan as it carried out one of several passes over the Bomber Command Memorial spire.
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In one of the last flypasts of the Vulcan, the distinctive delta wing brought the celebration to a close.
Tony Worth, chairman of the trust behind the memorial centre, told the assembled crowd that there is still work to do to complete the visitor centre but it will not compete with the Bomber Command Memorial in London.
"It is designed to complement it and complete the whole picture and provide a hub for visitors to lean about the Command," he said.
A massed male voice choir treated the veterans to the world first performance of Strike Hard, Strike Sure.
The anthem was commissioned for the day, takes its name from Bomber Command's motto and was written by Tom Davoren.
Tissues at the ready for this video of the Dakota and the band's rendition of the Dambusters March
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The Dakota - a last minute replacement for the Lancaster - made three passes of the memorial spire with accompaniment from the RAF College Band
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The reflective section of the memorial included a poem by Lincoln schoolchildren, the Last Post and Reveille and a minute's silence.
Then the RAF College band struck up the Dambusters March and, to applause, the Dakota flew over.
Ben Truslove
BBC News Online
The last flying Avro Vulcan is currently in a holding pattern over Lincolnshire, ready to fly over the Bomber Command memorial
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Dan Snow has just announced the sad news that the flypast by a Lancaster bomber has had to be cancelled because it is not currently airworthy.
Image source, Getty ImagesBut in a surprise twist a Dakota bomber - described by Eisenhower as one of the most important aircraft of the war - will fly over instead
Government minister Earl Howe has spoken of the importance of Bomber Command and the sacrifice the thousands of crew made.
And the Dean of Lincoln Cathedral Philip Buckler has blessed the memorial.
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