C-GVRA Canadian Warplane Heritage.

[ST1]

Following on from my previous thread "I got too close to Vera" I have now had time to process a few more images from the day. Rather than just post images I thought it would be appropriate to include some backround information as well.
A special memorial service marked the start of a day at my local airport to celebrate the arrival of the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster into the region. The local airport was a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) base during the second world war. The service was very, very moving with quite a few veterans attending. One gentleman from Canada scattered his mothers ashes adjacent to the bronze memorial statue of Andrew Mynarski VC. During his speech he explained that both his mother and father were involved as volunteers with the Canadian Warplane Heritage group, his father in an engineering role his mother doing important support work for the group.

Further reading is available HERE for those who may like some additional background.

#1 The Bronze Memorial statue of Andrew Mynarski VC.



#2 The Memorial plaque, note the Lancaster* in flowers at the left side.



#3 First engine firing up.



#4 Second engine firing up.



#5 Third engine firing up



#6 Final engine firing up



#7 Thumbs up, ready to roll.



#8 Take off.



#9 Two veteran Rear Gunners reminiscing and remembering their companions who didn't make it back.


#10 The link between this plane and the airport.



* It could just be coincidental the lancaster in this image has a missing propeller and after the flypast image here Vera took off again with special guest on board and the pilot had to shut down one engine. The local newspaper reported that Vera had been due to be flying with the only other flying Lancaster (Part of the UK Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF)over this weekend and they had to cancel due to the engine problem

[Shadowman]

Nice captures, #7 great image title with the grounds crew holding their hands up while the engines start.

[Cantab]

Peter, this is an interesting series of photos. Thanks for posting them together with your commentary and the link to the story about Mynarski. My dad served with the Canadian army in England for much of the war.

[ST1]

Thanks for looking and commenting John and Bruce