Lincolnshire Airfields No.19 – East Kirkby.

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre –  East kirkby –
East Kirkby 1st April 2013

On the spur of the moment I decided to go over to East Kirkby for the Avro Lancaster B VII “Just Jane” taxy run at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, The Centre which is  on an old bomber command airfield was first opened to the public in 1988 and has gone on to become a must visit attraction that has  it’s  own Naffi, Chapel, watch tower, blast shelter & other displays in outbuildings around the site including Wellington wings and parts in one, a Link trainer in another  Blitz exhibition and lots more.

 Link trainer displayed in one of the outbuilding

Remains of a Curtiss Flying boat hull bottom
 
Wellington Wings and related parts.
Marine Rolls Royce Merlin

 The main Display Hanger houses the airworthy Douglas C-47A “Drag em oot” N473DC 42-100882 which carries the marks it flew in for the D-Day landings, This also holds the Jewel in the crown Lancaster , The Lancaster B VII NX611 carries the marks of 57Sqn on one side and 630Sqn on the other, The lanc carries fare paying passengers on the taxy runs which helps pay for the upkeep of the aircraft, Among the other display items is a E.E Canberra Nose section WH957 a mark E.15 that people can enter and look around.

The Lincolnshire  Aircraft Recovery Group display aircraft parts and engines recovered for their many digs and have a Forward Fuselage of Spitfire Vb BL655.

Another Group based at East Kirkby is the Lincolnshire Aviation Preservation Society with the long term task to rebuild HP52 Hampden TB.1 AE436 PL-J of 144Sqn that crashed in Sweden 4th September 1942. Other aircraft stored with the Aviation Society are the long term  restoration project Percival P31 Proctor IV NP294, a unfinished Home built Druine Turbulent fuselage and a Walrus Float that had been converted to a child’s paddle boat that had sunk on it’s first outing.
AE436 /Hampden TB.1 forward upper Fuselage with original Instruments fitted with the lower fuselage  laying to the left.

 Lower forward fuselage

 Forward Fuselage taking shape.

Unfinished Druine Turbulent Stored in the rafters.

Walrus Float boat conversion 
 Percival P.31 Proctor IV NP294

 Also in the workshop was a Hampden Undercarriage recovered from the North Sea nr Skegness and a Link Trainer.Easter weekend is one of the special events with a Auto Gyro on ground display and a flying display by Spitfire XVI TD248 coded CR-S in 74Sqn marks. The Large model R.C Club also flew a good selection of both Helicopter and aircraft.

G-CFKA/Rotorsport UK MT-03

All in all a good way to spend a couple of hours on a Easter monday, It was also good to meet some familiar faces for a bit of banter and to take a picture or two,  Some of them later back at Just Desserts for an Ice cream.