Lancaster "Just Jane" flying?

[Nathan]

Is Just Jane going to be flying anytime soon? Last I heard the plan was to get her flying and I recently heard by next year??


I would be so thrilled to hear another Lanc flying!!!!!!

[C VEICH]

The place to ask would be over on the Flypast forum I imagine. I know there has been much discussion on the subject over there and, as far as I am aware, the plan is to get "Just Jane" flying. However, I would be very surprised if such an undertaking could be accomplished in time to have her flying for next year. That's all speculation on my part though, just to be clear.

[JohnB]

Not yet. I don't believe a date has been set.
The owners seem to be taking a "It will be done when it's done" approach, rather than set any pressure-building deadlines.

When it does fly, you'll be able to hear the screaming from here...considering how excited they got over the Canadian Lanc visit.

Last edited by JohnB on Thu Nov 12, 2015 5:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Fleet16b]

There has been much said about her flying one day and I for one would love to see it happen .
However, having spoken with certain people close to the situation , they feel it more than likely may never happen due to costs to operate ie insurance and British Operating rules.
Also as a civilian owned airframe she can sell taxi rides that bring in a fair amount of revenue to the group/
If she flies she will not be allowed to carry passengers aloft and would be competing with the BBMF Lanc/
Due to the size of England and the limited amount of Aviation that would be able to afford to pay for her appearance , the revenue from taxi rides may be greater than Airshow revenue
Lets hope at the very least she does some limited flying

[JohnB]

The UK CA has amended some of their rules, for example you can now buy a Spitfire ride...so perhaps there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

Still with the EU insurance rules, the (more or less outright) banning of some ex-military types and no longer "manufacturer supported" types, their system does seem to be designed to protect people from themselves...

[Human Factor]

They could always donate it to the BBMF I suppose. The intention was to do that with the British Aerospace operated Mosquito before it went in.

[station 342]

HI ,
They have recently taken delivery of their 5th zero timed merlin [ 1 spare ] , the 4 fitted to JUST JANE are not part of these 5 airworthy engines , A considerable investment if they had no plans to fly her !.
If you Google Just Jane you can read up on the progress being made , they have a winter programme of inspection and repair / overhaul towards the return to air .
I beleave they intend to continue with their popular taxi rides once the Lanc is flying .
Good News for everyone .

[Thomas_Mac]

HI ,
They have recently taken delivery of their 5th zero timed merlin [ 1 spare ] , the 4 fitted to JUST JANE are not part of these 5 airworthy engines , A considerable investment if they had no plans to fly her !.
If you Google Just Jane you can read up on the progress being made , they have a winter programme of inspection and repair / overhaul towards the return to air .
I beleave they intend to continue with their popular taxi rides once the Lanc is flying .
Good News for everyone .

Here is the link

http://www.lincsaviation.co.uk/news/

[Iclo]

A possible scenario heard from various sources was the BBMF Lancaster will not fly forerver and to have Just Jane ready to replace her when the time will come.

As the BBMF looks to be free for airshow's organizers, it looks to be difficult to operate a second Lancaster on the airshow circuit at the same time.

Side note: the BBMF looks to not operate very often outside the UK in the recent years (Understandable as their operation are backed with public money).
Having a privately operated Lancaster could increase the opportunities to see on in European's skies.

[Dave Hadfield]

There are changes happening on the rules for Adventure Flying, started with NZ's CAA and spreading. VWoC and CWH had meetings last summer with TC regarding this. And the UK CAA is also making changes. It is now becoming legal to advertise and openly charge money for warbird flights.

But with J for Jane, I would wonder about corrosion. Taxying is one thing, flying quite another. Are the spars and other airframe parts rebuilt and sound?

Dave

[Iclo]

Hi,

Having the UK CAA allowing revenue flight on warbirds would be a good thing : a plane like Sally B could have a new source of revenue in the current difficult context for large warbirds and people like me who dream to fly one day in a B17 could achieved their goal without to have to go to the USA

For Just Jane, It looks they did a complete survey of the airframe a few years ago and reached the conclusions the plane could made airworthy without a complete dissassembly. So they build a plan to continue to operate their taxi runs in the summer and perform maintenance and rebuild of the requiring components during the off-season.
I suppose this approach was validated by the authorirthies before they started the process: acquiring/restoring 5 Merlins is not an investement you do without having a very good plan.

Regards

[Dave Hadfield]

Iclo, your English is fine!

Regulators like the CAA don't care a hoot how much money you spend. And they don't "approve" a restoration plan, at least over here. They simply inspect the aircraft when you ask them to show up, plus the documentation -- which can be a huge stumbling-block.

However a wise restoration facility does ask them first -- what do you need to see in order to Certify this aircraft for flight? Because no one wants to invest $2M into something only to find that it all has to be taken apart again, or huge delays generated because the parts do not have documentation.

At VWoC we have initiated a computer-based parts and work order process so that when, for example, our HUrricane XII is ready, the paper-trail of parts and work will be complete. We hope for no gaps or omissions. And thus gaining the Flight Authority should not generate delays and expense.

The goal is, on the same day the final part is installed, to then hit "Send" to the inspectors to authenticate the documentation, and have it 100% complete. Not spend a month scrambling for long-vanished paperwork.

The job of the CAA is to protect the public. They don't care how much money you spend, or the historical provenance -- although the inspectors are human beings too, and can sometimes be quite reasonable and helpful.

Dave

[Firebird]

A possible scenario heard from various sources was the BBMF Lancaster will not fly forerver and to have Just Jane ready to replace her when the time will come.

BBMF Lanc was re-sparred 20 odd years ago, so has lots of airframe life left (probably more than JJ has in reality) and at the time, it was said that it was more likely lack of correct fuel would be the reason it wouldn't fly. However, withdrawl of public funding via MOD could mean it is grounded for reasons other than techinical....although, there are recent rumours that BBMF might soon be 'civilianised' and funded by charity, as was done with the Royal Navy Historic Flight.

Side note: the BBMF looks to not operate very often outside the UK in the recent years (Understandable as their operation are backed with public money).
Having a privately operated Lancaster could increase the opportunities to see on in European's skies.

This is certainly a viable situation for JJ (although maybe not over Germany!)