The spirit of the Second World War was ‘make do and mend’, a marked contrast to today’s throw-away culture. Keeping this 1940s spirit alive and keeping Lincolnshire’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in the air is a dedicated team of mechanically gifted technicians… and this month an undeniably less gifted engineer in the form of Lincolnshire Pride’s Editor Rob Davis.
 
As anyone who has ever entered the hanger of RAF Coningsby’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight knows, the pride of the squadron is its beautiful Lancaster PA474 – one of only two remaining airworthy Lancasters in the World, and the only one sporting the menacing livery ‘Phantom of the Ruhr’.

It’s a phenomenal aircraft in terms of size, presence, history and condition, but that’s no coincidence. Each aircraft is limited to just 49 hours in the air each year between the months of April and September. The rest of the year, the aircraft hunkers down in the hangar away from the wind, rain and freezing conditions which would render the remaining lifespan of the aircraft extremely short indeed.

Whilst hibernating for the winter, each aircraft is stripped down, serviced and maintained so that it is able to fly year after year for the public’s enjoyment, and it’s the responsibility of a team of 17 engineers to ensure that work is carried out with absolute precision, absolute expertise and absolute respect for the priceless aircraft in its charge.

This month, the crew gained another member of staff as I was invited to join engineer Corporal Nigel ‘Sticky’ Bunn to service the engines of the Lancaster ready for the beginning of another season in April 2008.

Sticky has over 17 years of experience under his belt, having joined the RAF in 1979 and the BBMF itself in 1988. He’s now a full time reservist and is one of the Lancaster’s most experienced engine technicians, able to strip down each of the four huge Merlin engines and rebuild them to ensure that pilots fly in complete safety and the aircraft is able to fly year after year after year in any of the 400+ events at which the BBMF makes an appearance annually.

My shift with the flight began with a cuppa and a trip to stores in order to get kitted out with overalls bearing the BBMF crest and a pair of ear defenders. Then, work began replacing the exhaust manifolds of the Lancaster alongside Sticky.