(Peter Stickney) wrote:

Let's just say that if I'm talking through my hat, please do call ne
on it.


Ok...yer on...we'll keep yer on the straight 'n narrow!...


They were Lancaster X (MR) with Merlin 224/225 engines as used by
the RCAF in Canada for ASW work in the early to mid fifties and
replaced in (I think '55) with Neptune P2V-7's (with no jets
installed until later).

You mentioned that you were going to be attending a gathering of your
RCAF/CanForce fellows this fall.

Yes, it starts this Thursday, runs for 4 days.

I've managed to dig up a beautiful
color photo of an RCAF Argus and a USN Neptune formating on each other
during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I can swing acanning it, and
shooting off a large-scale (B or C size) print of it, if you'd like.

Hell, yes!...but you could just email it and we can print it
here. Thanks, )

Oh, yeah - on the Pinetree Line website there's a rather good quality
color image of an ASW Lancaster that suffered a maingear collapse at
Stephenville/ Ernest Harmon AB, in the mid '50s. While it's not the
most dignifies shot, it's a good study of a workhorse late in its
life. Like every other Canadian Military airplane I've seen, it
looked to be in remarkable shape - did you guys have people specially
detailed to polish 'em?

Cripes yes!...a favourite punishment for young airmen 'who were
feeling their oats' was 'polish detail'. I'll never forget the
smell of 'Never-dull', that polish soaked
'cotton-batting-in-a-can' that we used. did a great job on
bare aluminum too.

Can't find the Lanc on the Pine tree Line site, that's a
humongous site, really big.
--

-Gord.