Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen The immense 33-foot-long bomb bay of the Lancaster bomber at AirVenture 2009 gives pause to visitors.

July 29, 2009 - Oshkosh, Wisconsin  - The Canadian Warplane Heritage's (CWH) World War II British Lancaster bomber used several of its precious 50 annual flying hours to reach AirVenture 2009. The bomber is required to be torn down for inspection every 50 hours, and CWH schedulers map out its annual forays accordingly, explains Laura Hassard-Moran, CWH's flight coordinator.

That flying-time budget means the Lancaster will not participate in the air show at Oshkosh this year, reserving hours for the rest of the season. However, the Lancaster is a popular static display on AeroShell Square, with a queue of visitors squeezing through the big bomber's confines all day long.

The Lancaster's schedule typically concludes with a fly-over during Canada's November 11 Remembrance Day. On November 12, volunteers are already tearing the Lancaster down for inspection. "You look at everything," says CWH Lancaster pilot Richard E.J. Pulley. Typically the black bomber is back in the air by April, although this spring, corroded propeller blades took longer to replace.

For this Lancaster, one of 430 built in Canada, some parts are more American than the British pedigree would suggest. Propellers are Hamilton-Standards similar to those on the FG-1D Corsair. The dorsal turret is an American-made Martin top turret packing twin .50-caliber machine guns instead of the British four-gun .30-caliber mount typical of the nearly 7,000 Lancasters constructed in England. Knobby balloon main tires might be a supply problem were it not for the availability of tire molds in England, Pulley says.

How does the 102-foot wingspan bomber handle? "It's great in the air, just terrible on the ground," Pulley says with a smile. "It handles like a mean DC-3."

Pulley explains that the Lancaster was built with a swiveling tail wheel that cannot be locked. On landing and taxiing, that dancing tail wheel can make the Lancaster a handful. Pulley says he can't use differential braking too much during taxi because the brakes have a limited supply of air pressure. So the trick is to use differential thrust from the Merlin engines and keep enough power on the inboard engines to blow a workable slipstream over the tall twin rudders for steering.

From bases in England, the Royal Air Force sent streams of Lancasters over Germany on night missions as part of the round-the-clock bombing offensive partnered with the U.S. Army Air Forces. Their huge bomb bays carried a variety of bomb sizes and types, up to the huge 22,000-pound Grand Slam weapon. The CWH Lancaster was to have been part of a campaign against Japanese targets, but the end of the war in August 1945 kept this bomber out of combat.

The Lancaster on display at AirVenture 2009 flew search-and-rescue sorties out of Newfoundland until 1963. Canadian Warplane Heritage obtained the Lancaster as a static display in 1978. Following a 10-year restoration, it first flew in CWH hands in 1988.The CWH organization is nearly 40 years old. Hassard-Moran says the charitable group relies heavily on donations and volunteers to keep it operating. "We get very little in the way of government support," she says.

Hassard-Moran recalls a school tour to the CWH collection at Mount Hope, Ontario. The big bomber mesmerized one boy, who was quietly standing in front of it. As the tour departed, he held out 11 cents and offered it as a donation, she recalls. Another time, a visitor wrote a check for $10,000. She says she appreciates them both, plus all the other donations that help keep CWH's warbirds flying in North America.