NOT ONLY ‘JUST JANE’, BUT ALSO A WHOLE LOT MORE The ambition? To rebuild an original wartime airfield


T


he Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre is a family run museum set up more than 20 years ago by Fred and Harold Panton isn't just a tribute to their eldest brother, Christopher, who was


killed on a bombing raid over Nuremberg in 1944, it's also as a living memorial to the 55,500 men of Bomber Command who lost their lives during the Second World War.


Based at the old wartime airfield of RAF East Kirkby,


Lincolnshire, it continues to expand every year, and the brothers’ ambition is to rebuild it fully as a complete original wartime airfield, preserving the memory of Bomber Command for many years to come. The original 1940s control tower has been retained and the main hangar is built on the original wartime hangar base The centrepiece is, of course, ‘Just Jane’ , Lancaster


NX611, one of only three working Lancasters worldwide. It was bought by Fred and Harold in 1983 and they had planned to keep it for their private collection, however it was suggested they should make an exhibit for the public and so the museum was set up, with the Lancaster and control tower as its centre pieces. Of course they wanted it to be more than just a static


exhibit and in 1993 two ex-RAF engineers were brought in to restore one of its four Rolls-Royce Merlin 24 engines. After some 700 hours of work at a cost of around £7,000 the engine was finally ready and ran. With that done, work was then completed on the other three engines and they


are now at a fully operational taxiing standard. While not yet in flying condition, ‘Just Jane’ regularly has engine runs and provides ‘taxy trips’ for visitors — which are booked months in advance — to help fund its restoration. You can get a feel for these in the videos on the museum’s website,www.lincsaviation.co.uk/gallery/ videos/


All of the restoration work is will be completed by


the centre’s engineering team, and to comply with CAA regulations they have set up the ‘Lancaster Restoration Company’. It’s an estimated ten-year project with the end goal of ‘Just Jane’ being airworthy. In addition to the Lancaster, the museum also has a


Douglas C47A-DC3, fitted with glider pick-up gear, that towed an assault glider on D-Day, a Percival P.31 Proctor Mk.IV, utilised as a three-seat radio trainer during the war and now a long-term restoration project, a Handley Page Hampden, another Bomber Command veteran, and a privately-owned Mosquito night-fighter, the only existing version of this variant, also undergoing restoration. As well as the aircraft there’s a host of Second Word


War memorabilia in the museum, plus the centre has a range of Second World War RAF vehicles, including a Ford WOT1 aircrew bus, thought to be the only one of its kind in existence.


You can read more about the Lancaster and the centre at lincsaviation.co.uk


FLYING HERITAGE


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