Getting Ready To Fly by junge1
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
This Avro 'Lancaster' No.BX FM213 was restored by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum and is flown in the paint scheme of KB726 VR-A and is known as the 'Mynarski Memorial Lancaster'.
On a previous upload of another picture of this aircraft I had erroneously mentioned that it is the 'only flyable Lancaster in the World'. I was wrong, it is the only flyable Lancester in North America, there is another flyable 'Lanc' in the UK.
A little personal history to this plane. I was born in Berlin on December 1939 and lived there until August 1943. I remember two night air raids prior to our leaving the city. Each one started the same way. First the up and down wailing of the sirens. That was the key to hussle to the basement from our 3rd floor sublet apartment.
Once in the basement the waiting for the drone of the approaching aircraft, first faint and slowly increasing in volume, then the sound of the anti-aircraft guns, and finally the waiting for the wistling sound the falling bombs were making.[By the way, incoming rockets at DaNang sounded just like the falling bombs in Berlin, same whistling sound]. While waiting, and throughout the bombing raid, everyone was sitting with their eyes peeled to the ceiling.
A good indicator as to how far away the bombs would explode was the interval between the end of the wistling sound and the sound of the actual explosion, the longer the interval, the further away the explosion and the less mortar fell off the ceiling.
Once the air raid was over, we went back up to our apartment, and looking out the window one could see the eerie glow of the fires against the smoke or clouds.
When we returned to Berlin in November 1945, our entire block of apartments was wiped out and the word was that it had been hit by an English air mine, hence the Lancaster. The British 'Lancaster' was the only aircraft capable of carrying the big bombs.
The second experience was during the Berlin Airlift. For me, as an eight, nine year old boy it was like being in heaven. Planes, planes, planes. I lived in Berlin-Tegel and the airfield was built on an old parade ground. It was literally built over night, actually in a few months. Us kids didn't know the political situation except it had something to do with the Russians. I got so used to the sound of aircraft engines that I could tell lying in bed whether it was a C-47 'Dakota' or a C-54 "skymaster', the two most prevalent types that landed at Tegel. I could also tell whether all engines were running properly. Lancasters usually landed at Tempelhof along with Yorks (very loud) and Hastings, and of course C-54s and C-47s, or at Gatow, but on one day I watched a Lancaster land at Tegel after it had passed over us, and at touch down the right main gear collapsed. There was a strong cross wind, and the aircraft rotated slightly to the right before it stopped. No major damage (as far as we could see from our vantage point at the fence) and no casualties. A short time later the aircraft was cleared from the runway and all waiting aircraft, stacked up in the pattern, resumed landing.
This picture was taken at the Redding Air Show, PA on 3 June 2005.
Thank you for viewing and commenting on my uploads and a 'Special Thank You' to those that may have added some of them to their favorites,
Sig...

Comments (38)
The shot is very well done!
Very well told story and history thanks for sharing. Great capture too.
Excellent shot!
I was considered a "war baby", but your being born right in the hot bed of action really truly means you were a war baby.it must have been terrifying. the information is so interesting and informative. I love the sound of the WWII planes and when I can hear them coming, I run outside to see them fly over. when there is an airshow here, they sell rides in the bombers. the price is prohibitive for me to fly in one but never the less, I can dream
First of all,this is a very nice shot. i studied WWII-on my own since i was 9 years old,my father opened his library to me little by little as i grew up. so i know a lot of facts. but the one who was never there actually in person,can never feel what you (and the population) felt in berlin during this time. but i can imagine when the "RosinenBomber" came in to berlin that was another kind of feeling. great shot and all the best.
very impressive !!
excellent shot
Wonderful up close and personal shot of this classic bomber. You certainly have lived a lot of history, Sig! Thanks for sharing your story. (Ever thought about writing a book?)