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This'll make ya laugh.......or choke !!!

Posted by Mick on Thu Feb 28, 2002 04:30:09 AM

In reply top Avro bomber bits posted by Mick on Wed Feb 27, 2002 10:43:53 AM

Just give you a moment to put your cups of tea/coffee down, don't want any nasty accidents.........

We have it on good authority, actually from the horse's mouth, that he who owns it STILL intends to make Lincoln RF342 fly one day, got it all worked out but says he needs some backers though, usual story..........would anyone here give HIM any money, I know I wouldn't.

It is indeed a real tragedy what has become of this Lincoln.
I still remember the days when the museum at Manchester was being planned (1981-82)and the drawings showed a Lancaster shaped four engine bomber in the display.
It seems they were thinking that a Lanc would go in there but the only possibility, apart from grounding PA474 (which they may have been actually thinking of), or getting hold of one of the Canadian Lancs (fat chance),was to take NX611 off Scampton's gate and put it in there, but then that was sold to the Panton brothers, and ain't they done a lovely job with it as well.

So then there minds focused on a Lincoln, and short of the Argies giving them their Lincoln RE408, which would not have been on the cards at all seeing as we were at war (or almost) with them at the time, the only real possibility there was the one at Cosford, RF398, but they said "You ain't having our Lincoln matey", and that was the end of that idea.
At this time RF342 was at the Southend museum and privately owned, and no doubt there was absolutely no chance of the Manchester museum acquiring it, so they had to make do with the Shackleton at Manchester instead, lovely aeroplane but not exactly as "crowd pulling" as a Lanc or Lincoln.

Lo and behold though, just a few months later it was announced that the complete Southend museum contents were going up for auction, and in early 1983 RF342 was sold to Mr Arnold, for ?97,000 I seem to recall (?). I suppose the Manchester people thought of putting in a bid for the Lincoln then, but I shouldn't think that the Manchester museum could have competed with Doug"Fat Wallet"Arnold to buy it.
While it seemed at first that Arnold had good intentions for RF342, it soon became clear that all he wanted it for was the engines and undercarriage to help rebuild his newly acquired Lanc KB889, so then bagan almost 20 years of RF342 being relegated to the twilight zone, being stored outside at various places and generally being kicked about, so today we now have a corroded hulk with an odd bloke in charge of it, who apparently will not consider selling it to give it a better home somewhere........unless you make him an offer even he can't refuse.

Makes you wanna weep doesn't it?

Thanks for the info lads.
I take it that Kermit now has the Lanc cockpits of TW911 (RF342) and KB976, but what other bits does he have, must be a right old mish-mash ?

Cees, yes it would be a lovely idea for us all to buy and rebuild a Lancaster or Lincoln to fly, but if people are already baulking at something as relatively simple and very easy to acquire as a C47 there's no chance for a four engined Avro bomber........or is there !?

TaTa
Mick







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