One of the most historic aircraft in the world will be touring the UK next month—and one of the highlights of its visit will be when it flies into Durham Tees Valley Airport.
The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s Avro Lancaster bomber, one of only two still flying, is named after Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski, who flew with the Canadian Royal Air Force from the airport site—then known as RAF Middleton St George—and was posthumously awarded the VC after giving his life whilst attempting to save a colleague when their Lancaster was shot down in June 1944.
The Canadian Lancaster is scheduled to arrive at Durham Tees Valley on Thursday, August 28th, and the airport has today announced details of the programme of events it will be organising to mark the event…and the opportunity for people to view the aircraft.
Says Airport Manager Shaun Woods “We are enormously proud to host this visit and I know that the organisers from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum see this as one of the highlights of the Lancaster’s tour given our unique connection with the Royal Canadian Air Force and, of course, Andrew Mynarski whose statue stands outside the St George Hotel.
“We are expecting that the visit will generate a lot of interest and that many people will want to come along and see the aircraft for themselves. We obviously need to make arrangements to ensure the visit goes smoothly which is why we will be asking people who do want to come along to pre-book visitor passes. All profits from the event will go to Warplane Heritage Museum.
“Obviously the Lancaster will be the star of the show but we will be organising many other events and attractions, including displays from aircraft, classic cars and emergency service vehicles, with refreshments available throughout the day.”
The event will run from 11.00am to 6.00pm and visitors will have the chance to view the Lancaster and also see it performing a flypast around 3.00pm. Visitor passes, costing £10 and allowing entry for up to four people and free car parking for the day, will have to be booked in advance and will be available for booking on line at www.dtva.co.uk/lancastermynarski from Monday, August 4th.
By Durham Tees Valley Airport
30th July 2014