Fire-hit Lancaster bomber Thumper flies again after five months

The Lancaster Bomber, known as Thumper, took to the sky on Monday afternoon

The last airworthy Lancaster bomber in Britain has flown for the first time since being grounded by a fire in May.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Lancaster, known as Thumper, based at RAF Coningsby, took the skies for a test flight on Monday.

The Lancaster, one of only two in the world able to fly, missed most of the 2015 display season.

Squadron Leader Martin Morris said a schedule for subsequent flights will be announced over the next few weeks.

Sqd Ldr Morris, who heads up the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, said: "Spares and parts are difficult to find and some had to be manufactured.

"The aluminium for the bulkhead had to be sourced from the same type of aluminium as the original aircraft - so it has not been without challenge - but our engineers have succeeded."

Hundreds of people turned out to watch as Thumper took to the skies at about 14:00 BST.

The Lancaster bomber

• The Lancaster bomber was designed by Roy Chadwick, born in Farnworth, near Widnes, in 1893

• Lincolnshire earned the title Bomber County because it was home to a third of all the UK's stations

• About 7,300 Lancasters were built during World War Two but most of those that survived the conflict were scrapped

• The aircraft is best known for its part in attacking German dams in 1943, later turned into The Dambusters film

• Lincoln Cathedral was used as a landmark for bomber crews returning from their missions in the dark

• In 2012, the BBMF's Lancaster was repainted with a Disney Thumper logo in tribute to the Dambusters squadron

• Last year, the aircraft flew a number of displays with the Canadian Lancaster as a "special salute" to all the veterans of Bomber Command