Wednesday, February 08, 2017

LANCASTER MEMORIES TO BE ENJOYED IN BRIGG


The Brigg Amateur Social Historians group (BASH) has made a flying start to publicising its April get-together at Brigg Servicemen's Club.
The illustrated talk that month will be Lincolnshire Lancaster Firsts - presented by Aviation Historian Jim Shortland.
In view of the subject and speaker, Brigg Blog expects this to attract a large attendance.
Lancaster bombers flew from RAF Elsham Wold to take part in operations during the Second World War.
Many of the brave crews enjoyed a bit of R&R (rest and recuperation) in Brigg pubs.
You may recall not many years ago when the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Lancaster came from its base at RAF Coningsby and made a memorable fly-past over Brigg on the night of a BASH event at the Servicemen's Club (pictured above and below).
Many people in Brigg enjoy seeing "The Lanc" whenever it appears in the skies over the town on its way to or from fly-pasts at various events.
BASH meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month - so the Lancaster talk will be on April 4, starting at 8pm. Make a note of the date - further details to follow nearer the time.
Admission to BASH meetings is free, with a raffle held to help meet costs. Everyone is welcome - no need to book tickets in advance.





3 comments:

Ken Harrison said...

The Lanc evolved from the Avro Manchester....and in later years, the Avro Lancaster metamorphosed
into the Avro Shackleton....a post-war aircraft that served for many years in the RAF on maritime patrol sorties.
Another RAF aeroplane that had Lanc connections was a transport aircraft, Handley Page Hastings....circa 50's - 60s ..it had the same mainplane (wings) as the Lanc; its distinct characteristic was that its wings use to flap...quite safe, but a bit unnerving for those not aware of the tendency.
It was from the Hastings that I was meant to do my first parachute jump from an aircraft in ..summer (July) 1965 (I had made several from a barrage balloon), but the day before, a Hastings had somersaulted and had gone for burton into a barley field with army paras aboard killing all...and the whole fleet was grounded.
Instead, I jumped from a bi-plane..DeH Rapide over Oxfordshire....so I'm one of few people who can now claim that they have jumped from both a gas-bag and a pre-war bi-plane.

Ken Harrison said...

Some folks may think why they get the shivers climbing a ladder, but when flying, they don't experience the same fear.
Psychologically, it is claimed that fear of height has something to do will being in touch with the ground - being up a ladder one is still in touch with the ground via the ladder.
This fear amiliorates/disappears when one is at height and there is no connection with the ground.
For example, when I and others jumped from a balloon the anticipation was made worse as one could see the tethering cable going from the balloon to its anchor point, some 700'/800' below. At this stage, one had two choices - voluntarily jump, or be kicked out the door
Once one was floating down, any fear of height disappeared.....
When jumping from an aeroplane at a much greater height, experience played an important part in reducing nerves, but one didn't feel overwhelmed by the height affect so much.

Ken Harrison said...

Some folks may think why they get the shivers climbing a ladder, but when flying, they don't experience the same fear.
Psychologically, it is claimed that fear of height has something to do will being in touch with the ground - being up a ladder one is still in touch with the ground via the ladder.
This fear amiliorates/disappears when one is at height and there is no connection with the ground.
For example, when I and others jumped from a balloon the anticipation was made worse as one could see the tethering cable going from the balloon to its anchor point, some 700'/800' below. At this stage, one had two choices - voluntarily jump, or be kicked out the door
Once one was floating down, any fear of height disappeared.....
When jumping from an aeroplane at a much greater height, experience played an important part in reducing nerves, but one didn't feel overwhelmed by the height affect so much.