Obelix Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 My endearing memory of the day was seeing Bill Hoffman (ex Stonehouse landlord) for the final time. He was dressed in his RAF finery, he was Dutch, would he have had a Royal Netherlands flash or button, I think so? Officially no, if you are RAF you have RAF buttons. Unofficially the "Polish" and "Dutch" squadrons in WW2 had a blind eye turned to various accoutrements such as swapping for Polish uniform buttons, or say an extra set of Dutch wings etc. So if the gent in question was from that era I wouldnt be at all surprised to see such modifications and a nice bit of history that would be too. ---------- Post added 17-05-2018 at 11:16 ---------- 1. Windspeeds are higher at higher altitude 2. In WW2 these aircraft weren't 75 years old 3. Plenty of missions were cancelled due to inclement weather , and indeed mechanical problems Windspeed is irrelevant. Its the turbulent changes in windspeed that are the problem and cause issues. As you say it's a 75 year old craft and a sudden side wind loading will flex the fuse or the wings more than they would like to have happen. At ground level in a valley with wind funelling over things like dams, and side canyons etc... gets very bumpy in the air... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iansheff Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 According to the BBC local news site the Lancaster flew over Stocksbridge and Rotherham this morning. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-leeds-44068379?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5afd3a80f6a3fe068d8d83c7%26Lancaster%20Bomber%20spotted%20in%20skies%20over%20South%20Yorkshire%26&ns_fee=0#post_5afd3a80f6a3fe068d8d83c7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isabelle Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 I'm really pleased that the last surviving pilot was onboard, it must have been a great experience for the plane's pilot this morning too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calahonda Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 We used to visit a bar in Spain that was owned by a Canadian guy and his wife, he had been a Hurricane pilot whilst serving in the Canadian RAF during WW2. The bar was a gathering place for ex flyers, German and British were now the best of friends, some of their stories were mind blowing. The actor Jack Watson, who owned a nearby apartment, often called in for early bar, he was a Royal Navy PT instructor during the war. I was just a fly on the wall listening to their exploits, they were so modest and almost apologetic for being the ones that survived. Lest we forget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocki Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 According to the BBC local news site the Lancaster flew over Stocksbridge and Rotherham this morning. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-leeds-44068379?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5afd3a80f6a3fe068d8d83c7%26Lancaster%20Bomber%20spotted%20in%20skies%20over%20South%20Yorkshire%26&ns_fee=0#post_5afd3a80f6a3fe068d8d83c7 It certainly did, I saw it, it was about 8.30. It was a fantastic sight and it was flying so low!! It just suddenly appeared from behind the trees, it's huge. I just watched in awe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Tiler Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 I'm really pleased that the last surviving pilot was onboard, it must have been a great experience for the plane's pilot this morning too Actually, Isabelle, he was a Bomb Aimer with 617 Squadron, not a pilot, but it's an easy mistake to make given his title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obelix Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 I'm really pleased that the last surviving pilot was onboard, it must have been a great experience for the plane's pilot this morning too The last surviving pilot was Les Munro and hes been dead a few years... I last met him at the 65th flypast in 2008. There may still be surviving crew though it could be one of them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penistone999 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 According to the BBC local news site the Lancaster flew over Stocksbridge and Rotherham this morning. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-leeds-44068379?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5afd3a80f6a3fe068d8d83c7%26Lancaster%20Bomber%20spotted%20in%20skies%20over%20South%20Yorkshire%26&ns_fee=0#post_5afd3a80f6a3fe068d8d83c7 Yes it did. I saw it low in the skies flying over Stocksbridge by-pass at 8.15am this morning. What a beautiful sight it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuttingedge Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 I was out at Cauldwell Mill this afternoon (Thursday) at 15.05 & saw what I thought was a Lancaster fly very low overhead. Did anyone else see this? It was an amazing sight. Can anyone tell me what aircraft this was? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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