Just Jane: Lancaster bomber is 'ultimate build' for model plane fans

Before it can fly again, each part of the four-engine plane needs to be stripped-down and checked

It might just be the largest aircraft model kit in the world, but needs no small tubes of glue and is not a toy.

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre's Lancaster bomber - known as Just Jane - is three years into a 10-year restoration project to get it airborne.

This year, the rear fuselage has been stripped down, and its parts laid out in the hangar.

Photographed from above, it "looks like an Airfix kit would in the packet", centre manager Andrew Panton said.

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The work is part of a £4m project to get the Lancaster airborne again

"The Lancaster is a sectional aircraft, so it does come apart in its major component pieces and bolts back together again in a similar way you'd glue an Airfix kit together," Mr Panton said.

"It's very reminiscent of being a child and building it up."

Airfix model kits were once a must-have for thousands of children - and adults

However, he added: "I made many models of Lancs as a boy, but this is the ultimate build.

"On a plane this age, the rivets start to crumble and need to be replaced. As for instructions, we have original RAF manuals and thousands of original drawings to work from," he said.

Mr Panton said the Lincolnshire-based team had original RAF manuals to work from

Just Jane requires more than three tiny pots of paint to get the job done

If the project is successful, Just Jane will become only the third flying "Lanc" in the world

The aviation heritage centre is run by the Panton family, who are restoring the aircraft as a tribute to family member Christopher Panton, who died over Germany in 1944.

During the summer, Just Jane is used for ground displays and taxiing passengers around the former RAF airfield at East Kirkby.

But every winter, as part of the £4m project, different sections of the aircraft are restored.

"She's the only running Lancaster you can get on board in Europe. The next stage is making her airworthy," Mr Panton added.

Just Jane is one of only 17 surviving and intact Lancaster bombers

If successful, Just Jane will become only the third flying Lancaster bomber in the world.

One of the others is also based in Lincolnshire at the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in Coningsby, while the other is in Canada.