Fly Past

WARBIRDS AVRO LANCASTER

64 FLYPAST September 2018

Three former Avro York engines

came from a crash site in the Arctic,

and another two from Moncton in

a package with three turbojets – a

pair of Pratt & Whitney J75s and

an Orenda Iroquois from an Avro

Arrow project.

A deal with John R Sandberg

of JRS Enterprises meant five

Merlins were rebuilt for the project.

Meanwhile, Western Propeller

inspected and overhauled the

propellers and balanced the spinners.

CWH received the fourth restored

engine in February 1988, and the

Lancaster – complete, but unpainted

• appeared on static display at the
  Hamilton Airshow in June that
  year in the colours of KB726 of
  419 ‘Moose’ Squadron, a tribute
  to Andrew Mynarski and his crew.
  The team announced the official
  unveiling and first public display of
  the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster
  would take place on September 24.
  Work progressed rapidly that
  summer. It took 43 hours and 97
  gallons (351 litres) of paint to cover
  the Lancaster’s 5,600sq ft surface
  area (520sq m). The coatings added
  500lb (226kg) of mass, giving
  FM213 a total empty weight of
  32,500lbs (14,742kg).
  On August 10, with John R
  Sandberg in the cockpit, all four
  engines were run up for the first
  time. The Lancaster was alive.

GLORIOUS SEPTEMBER

Tony Banfield, the BBMF’s CO at

the time, was selected as pilot for

the first flight as he’d had extensive

experience flying the world’s only

other airworthy Lancaster, UK-based

PA474. On September 11, with Bob

Hill in the co-pilot seat and engineers

Norm Etheridge and Tim Mols

aboard, FM213 took to the skies for

the first time in 24 years.

The successful first flight lasted one

hour. The second, also piloted by

Tony, followed four days later. Several

snags were noted, one of which led to

the undercarriage having to be blown

down for landing.

With Tony returning to the UK,

the Lancaster crew needed to make

several modifications before the

official public debut. On September

23, the day before the unveiling,

former RCAF Lancaster pilot Stu

Brickenden flew FM213 three times

without incident; ‘VeRA’ was ready

for her big day.

All but one of the surviving

members of Mynarski’s crew were at

a gala ball held that evening – Art de

Breyne, Jim Kelly, Roy Vigars, Bob

Bodie, Pat Brophy – plus Andrew

Mynarski’s sister, Mrs Stephanie

Holowaty (bomb aimer Jack Friday

was unable to attend due to a

family wedding).

Next day, CWH president Dennis

Bradley opened the ceremony by

introducing the dignitaries. Lt

Col Murray J Bertram, CO of

419 Squadron, then presented the

original fire axe from KB726 to the

crew, who took it with them on the

inaugural flight.

All of CWH’s airworthy fleet

performed flypasts, and Canadian

Spitfire ace Jerry Billing flew an

aerobatic routine in Cliff Robertson’s

Mk.IX. Then, with Stu Brickenden

and Bob Hill in the cockpit, the

Lancaster took off and made several

passes for the 20,000-strong crowd.

The inaugural flight of the Lancaster

ended with the Spitfire and CWH’s

Hawker Hurricane flying in

formation on each wing.

Almost three decades have passed

since that glorious September, and

FM213 – on the Canadian civil

register as C-GVRA – is still going

strong. In the summer months

the Canadian Warplane Heritage

Museum, now at Hamilton, is the

only place in the world where people

can purchase a flight in an Avro

Lancaster. Demand is so high that

each year’s schedule sells out early in

the spring.

It’s a testament to all the pilots

and personnel at CWH that, 73

years after FM213 was built, she is

still earning her keep, flying some

50 hours every year. With Merlin

engine overhauls costing around

US$150,000 (£114,000), and

prop blade overhauls $15,000, a

dwindling supply of serviceable parts

means that it’s not clear how long

the Canadian museum will be able

to keep ‘VeRA’ flying. But for now,

thankfully, there’s no end in sight.

http://www.warplane.com

WARBIRDS AVRO LANCASTER

Born in Winnipeg on October 14, 1916,

Andrew Mynarski joined the RCAF in 1941

and graduated as an air gunner at No.3

Bomb and Gunnery School before being

posted the following year to 419 ‘Moose’

Squadron based at Middleton St George

in County Durham, England.

After fl ying ‘ops’ in Vickers Wellingtons and Handley Page

Halifax bombers, his crew transitioned to Canadian-built Avro

Lancaster KB726, coded VR-A, in early June 1944.

Just after midnight on June 13, having bombed a target in

northern France, their aircraft was attacked near Cambrai by a

Junkers Ju 88 night-fi ghter. The Lancaster lost both port engines

and developed a hydraulic fi re. Art de Breyne, pilot in command,

ordered the crew to bale out, but Plt Off Pat Brophy, the rear

gunner, found himself trapped in his turret. Mynarski, on his way

to the rear escape hatch, saw him struggling and, despite the fi re

in the rear fuselage, tried his best to free him from the turret

with a fi re axe.

Mynarski’s fl ight suit and parachute were alight and Brophy

waved him off, so he reluctantly left the trapped gunner and

jumped, landing on farmland – still on fi re but alive. French

farmers took him to a German fi eld hospital, but he soon died

from severe burns.

Other than Brophy, the crew managed to exit KB726; incredibly,

although he was still stuck in the rear turret, he survived the

impact with the ground and was thrown clear of the wreckage.

All had survived, except for Mynarski who, thanks to the

persistence of Art de Breyne, was posthumously awarded the

Victoria Cross on October 11, 1946. He’s buried in Méharicourt,

near Amiens, France.

Canadian air gunner Plt Off Andrew Mynarski VC.

VIA GRAHAM PITCHFORK

ANDREW CHARLES MYNARSKI VC

Below

In 2017 the Lancaster

represented KB700

‘Ruhr Express’, the fi rst

Canadian-built example.

ALL BY OR VIA AUTHOR

UNLESS NOTED