WW2 Bombers - question for plane buffs..

[Zippee]

I'm currently half way through Patrick Bishops book 'bomber boys' and for some reason it got me thinking as to how many of the British WW2 bombers are still in existence today either flying or on static display.
Obviously the Lanc is still about but what about Wellingtons, Halifaxes, Stirlings, Whitleys, Mosquitos etc?
I can't recall ever having seen any at airshows in the UK.

[telecat]

The Elvington Collection has a Mosquito and a Halifax. There are not many of either around I think examples of the Halifax can be counted on one hand. Just checked and only Two complete Halifax bomber's are in existence. One other has been recovered and is being restored. Another was recovered from the Fjord where the Tirpitz resided and is kept in it's recovered condition at RAF Hendon.

No Original Whitley's exist. A replica is being built however.

Only One Original Blenheim exists today, there are however a handful of Bolingbrooke's which were Canadian version's. Some of these were airworthy but currently are in restoration due to age or "hard landing's" (crashes).

Two Wellington's exist Both in the UK.

Edited by telecat on Friday 4th April 15:05

Edited by telecat on Friday 4th April 15:07

[Cussy69]

Eric_MC is your man, he knows lots about planes etc. I also don't believe there are any flying Mozzies left, only static ones.

[bob1179]

Eric

He's your man and should know the answer!

[Hooli]

two flying lancs. BBMF & a twin control trainer in canada.
im sure i saw something about a mossie getting rebuilt somewhere, think it was NZ or elsewhere darn sarf.

now if you want REALLY rare try german stuff, most of it left over got destroyed after the war.

[AC Motors]

Imperial war Museum at Duxford have at least a Lancaster and a Mosquito but I am not sure if these are airworthy. I heard somewhere that only 1 airworthy Lanc was left and I'm sure that's at Conningsby. (BofB flight). see http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/ if you are interested.

[Cussy69]

Hooli said:

two flying lancs. BBMF & a twin control trainer in canada.
im sure i saw something about a mossie getting rebuilt somewhere, think it was NZ or elsewhere darn sarf.

now if you want REALLY rare try german stuff, most of it left over got destroyed after the war.

Pity most of it got destroyed though, their designs were years ahead of what we were developing at the time. Alot of their ideas were pinched by the Ruskies and Yanks and used in their designs for the next 30 years or so.

[vetteheadracer]

Wellington being restored at Brooklands last time I was there.

[telecat]

There are at least 30 preserved Mosquito's in the UK. The last Flying Mosquito crashed in 1998 sadly killing the crew. More exist overseas including a Canadian example that did fly until the late 1990's. Again because the Wooden construction makes restoration to flying spec difficult a number of replica's are being constructed.

[dougc]

Three mossies here

http://www.dehavillandmuseum.co.uk/

[FourWheelDrift]

The only Stirling and Whitley pieces I have seen are at an old Station tower turned into a museum, that used to RAF Framlingham then USAF Parham in Suffolk. Runways still sort of there but mostly overgrown and faming land with a road though the middle. The old tower is open to the public though and has a lot, and I mean a lot of wreckage from many planes inside including a complete undercarriage leg from a Stirling.

[Eric Mc]

Lancaster - there are quite a few on display at various museums around the world. Most of them static only. There are only two airworthy examples - the BBMF one here and one in Canada.

Halifix - no airworthy examples anywhere. There are two complete static examples. A beautifully restored one has recently been put on display in Canada. As mentioned, the Yorkshire Air Museum also has a nice restoration on display altough theirs is a hybrid comprised of a couple of sections of a number of different Halifaxes and wings and engines from a Hastings (which shared some design features with the Halifax).
The RAF museum also has a display of a very early Halifax in an "as found" state which was recovered from a Norwegian lake in 1972 and seen on the PH Hendon Museum trip hosted by me last July.

Stirling - not one Stirling survives anywhere as far as I know.

Wellington - no airworthy examples. There are two on display here in the UK. "R" for "Robert" at Brooklands and another at the RAF Museum Hendon.

Hampden - no examples in the UK. One in Canada

Whitley - no surviving examples at the moment although there is long term project to remanufacture a complete example using as many original bits as possible. This will be a ststic exhibit only.

Mosquito - no airworthy examples anywhere at the moment - although that is being addressed. There are quite a few Mossies preserved as museum exhibits, including the prototype.

Battle - one survives and is currently being refurbished for Hendon.

Blenheim - a number on display as static exhibits and one being restored to flying condition at Duxford.

Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 4th April 15:20

[DrTre]

I know it's not a bomber (it is derived from one though) but are there any Hornets flying?

[tank slapper]

Zippee said:

I'm currently half way through Patrick Bishops book 'bomber boys' and for some reason it got me thinking as to how many of the British WW2 bombers are still in existence today either flying or on static display.
Obviously the Lanc is still about but what about Wellingtons, Halifaxes, Stirlings, Whitleys, Mosquitos etc?
I can't recall ever having seen any at airshows in the UK.

Some of this from memory, some from a quick search:

There are two airworthy Lancasters, one in the Battle of Britain Memorial flight and one in Canada. There are 15 others in various states of restoration in museums etc.

There are 2 Wellington bombers - one is at Brooklands and one is in the RAF Museum Hendon both on static display.

According to wiki, there are 2 restored Halifaxes, one at Yorkshire Aircraft Museum which is a composite aircraft made up from parts of others, and one at the RCAF Museum in Ontario. A third is at Hendon displayed as it was recovered from a lake in Norway.

There are to my knowledge, no surviving Stirlings.

There are no surviving complete Whitleys, but Midland Aircraft Museum have large parts of one on display.

There are about 30 Mosquitos surviving, including the prototype and most of the large museums in the UK have at least one. I don't think there are any currently flying but there are several that could be made to be airworthy and there is apparantly a complete replica being constructed in New Zealand.

Edit - as usual Eric was quicker.

Edited by tank slapper on Friday 4th April 15:24

[Eric Mc]

DrTre said:

I know it's not a bomber (it is derived from one though) but are there any Hornets flying?

There are no Hornets in existence at all - airworthy or static.. They were all scrapped.

The Fleet Air Arm Museum has the rear fuselage and tailfin of a Sea Hornet and that is all that is left of the entire production run.

Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 4th April 15:25

[Zippee]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. I was aware of the 2 Lancs (seem to remember the Canadian one being used in that Bomber version of spitfire ace on TV).

[Cussy69]

Eric Mc said:

Lancaster - there are quite a few on display at various museums around the world. Most of them static only. There are only two airworthy examples - the BBMF one here and one in Canada.

Halifix - no airworthy examples anywhere. There are two complete static examples. A beautifully restored one has recently been put on display in Canada. As mentioned, the Yorkshire Air Museum also has a nice restoration on display altough theirs is a hybrid comprised of a couple of sections of a number of different Halifaxes and wings and engines from a Hastings (which shared some design features with the Halifax).
The RAF museum also has a display of a very early Halifax in an "as found" state which was recovered from a Norwegian lake in 1972 and seen on the PH Hendon Museum trip hosted by me last July.

Stirling - not one Stirling survives anywhere as far as I know.

Wellington - no airworthy examples. There are two on display here in the UK. "R" for "Robert" at Brooklands and another at the RAF Museum Hendon.

Hampden - no examples in the UK. One in Canada

Whitley - no surviving examples at the moment although there is long term project to remanufacture a complete example using as many original bits as possible. This will be a ststic exhibit only.

Mosquito - no airworthy examples anywhere at the moment - although that is being addressed. There are quite a few Mossies preserved as museum exhibits, including the prototype.

Battle - one survives and is currently being refurbished for Hendon.

Blenheim - a number on display as static exhibits and one being restored to flying condition at Duxford.

Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 4th April 15:20

[williamp]

Hooli said:

two flying lancs. BBMF & a twin control trainer in canada.
im sure i saw something about a mossie getting rebuilt somewhere, think it was NZ or elsewhere darn sarf.

now if you want REALLY rare try german stuff, most of it left over got destroyed after the war.

There are a surprising amount of German aircraft at Hendon and Duxford. None flyable, but a lot of very rare stuff.

[DrTre]

Eric Mc said:

DrTre said:

I know it's not a bomber (it is derived from one though) but are there any Hornets flying?

There are no Hornets in existence at all - airworthy or static.. They were all scrapped.

The Fleet Air Arm Museum has the rear fuselage and tailfin of a Sea Hornet and that is all that is left of the entire production run.

Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 4th April 15:25

They look(ed) fanastic. Somewhat outdone a bit by the advent of the jet engine mind you ..

Edited by DrTre on Friday 4th April 15:31

[tonyvid]

Such a shame when last flying Mossie went in a few years ago - I lived in Hatfield as a lad and that particular aircraft was based there and could stop the town every time it flew. One of the best noises ever.