THE Canadian Lancaster landed at RAF Coningsby yesterday and two of the eight-man crew have spoken of their joy at finally uniting the Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight's bomber with their own aircraft.
The Lancaster was due to take a brief tour of the skies around Lincolnshire, including Caistor, but thunderstorms in the area forced the aircraft to fly directly to the RAF base.
Co-pilot Leon Evans said: "We just flew across the Atlantic in a Lancaster, so what about that?
"The weather man from RAF Coningsby was absolutely correct, so we came down from the Hebrides over Scotland and down the east of England.
"I wanted to land and have a beer in one of those beautiful pubs but the rest of the guys had other ideas.
"It is unfortunate that the weather came in near the end and we needed to get her down.
"Once we spotted the Hebrides we knew that we were nearly there."
Flight engineer Craig Brookhouse, another Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum volunteer, said that he was part of an RAF family and had a grandfather who served as a glider pilot in the Second World War. "It is an absolute dream that we did it," he said.
"Everywhere we have stopped we have been treated wonderfully.
"Evidently my whole family is here. They come from all over the West Midlands and it will be great to see them."
As part of a six-week display season, the two Lancasters will complete a fly-past at North Coates Flying Club's Autumn Fly-In on September 6 and 7.
