Lancaster Bomber event to be rearranged at heritage centre

Lancaster Bomber Just Jane, which currently cannot fly, is a popular attraction at Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre

Organisers behind a Lancaster Bomber fly-past have said they are looking to rearrange the event after they were forced to cancel.

A Canadian Lancaster suffered engine trouble on Friday and has not been fixed in time for the event at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre.

About 5,000 tickets were sold to see two airworthy Lancasters and one on the ground, which cannot currently fly.

The centre, near Skegness, said tickets would be valid for an alternative date.

'Potential dates'

Just Jane, which staff at the museum are currently in the process of repairing, would have been united with the last remaining flying Lancasters - owned by the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre said in a statement on its website that it was "very sad" about the cancellation and was forced to rearrange due to "aircraft serviceability".

FM213 Vera experienced an "issue" with one of its engines as it was approaching the runway

It had been hoped that FM213 Vera, which had to perform an engine shutdown during a flight in County Durham, would be repaired over the weekend ready for the event at 15:00 BST on Tuesday.

However, despite being provided with an airworthy Merlin engine it could not make the deadline.

Al Micklehoff, from the Canadian War Plane Museum, said: "We've looked at our schedule, it's extremely tight, but we think we see two potential dates.

"We still have to sit down with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) to see if they're available."

The centre said ground activities would still be taking place and tickets would be valid for an alternative date for the event when it can be rearranged.

It is not clear whether another planned event, involving all three aircraft, will still go-ahead on Sunday.

The last two airworthy Lancaster Bombers were due to fly together at Bournemouth at the weekend