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Lancasters at Longbridge

B

Big Gee

master brummie
I'm reading "Lancaster" by Leo McKinstry, an excellent history of the aircraft, and which I'd gladly recommend.

However, he states that Lancasters manufactured at Longbridge were transported in sections to Elmdon where they were assembled and then test flown. I was always under the impression that Lancasters were assembled at the Cofton Hackett plant which had its own airfield for test-flying.

Can anyone clear this up, please?

Big Gee
 
See this - you need to scroll down.

https://www.austinmemories.co.uk/page6/page6.html

"Because of the short runway at Longbridge neither the Stirling and Lancaster could fly out from the factory airfield. So they were built as kits in East Works and then the various parts such as fuselages, wings etc. were transported to Austin's other Shadow Factory. Because of the large sections taken by trailer, much of the street furniture en-route had to be removed, including a road cut straight through a roundabout in Kings Norton".
 
Thanks for that, Bernie. I was a bit surprised about Elmdon, but your link clears it up. The Austin Memories site is worth a full read.

Big Gee
 
I thought Lancasters were built at Castle Brom - later became a car factory on Chester Road, opposite Castle Vale (Austin Rover I think). Remember my dad telling me about them rolling the planes across the road. So was Castle Vale once an airfield? Viv.
 
Lancasters and other aircraft were built at Longbridge before and during WW2, and Lancasters and Spitfires at Castle Bromwich, which was part of Vickers. Castle Vale was built on the former Castle Bromwich aerodrome, and one of my earliest memories is of aircraft, including Spitfires, being flown in for scrapping. There used to flying displays at Castle Bromwich, and I remember those too.

Big Gee
 
Here's a picture of the first Lanc. to be produced at Castle Bromwich. Its subsequent history and the story of one man who helped to build it is here.

(Image owned by the McMullin family - the linked page provides a link to their family website which tells of wartime in Castle Bromwich)

Chris
 
Thanks Big Gee and ChrisM. That's an interesting link. My dad flew on Lancasters and Soitfires and it's thanks to these people that he survived the War. Didn't realise how big Lancasters were! Viv.
 
I remember the wings and fuselages coming along the Coventry Rd (A45) on there way to the Elmdon (Bickenhill factory), transported on low wheel based lorries nicknamed "Queen Mary`s", my memory could be poor. Len.
 
A very good book covering test flying from Castle Bromwich during WWII is "Sigh For A Merlin" by Alex Henshaw a famous Vickers Test Pilot.
I also remember Lancaster Bombers being towed across Chester Road for testing. I beleive that Vickers took over part of the airfield that was "RAF Castle Bromwich". I seem to remember seeing "Tiger Moth" training aircraft being flown from there pre war, also Elmdon was used for training, flying "Tiger Moths" at the begining of the war.
Regards Reg "Roverman"
 
Thanks for the suggested book Roverman. Will have a look at that one. Was wondering whether these areas were specific targets for the Luftwaffe? Viv.
 
Vivienne14 said:
Thanks for the suggested book Roverman. Will have a look at that one. Was wondering whether these areas were specific targets for the Luftwaffe? Viv.
Click to expand...

Hi Viv,I can't remember that the site received any particular attention from the Luftwaffe during the war, which is surprising. Regards Reg
 
Alex Henshaw used to roll Lancasters when he was testing them.......

The crews reckoned the major disadvantage of the Lanc compared with other, inferior, bombers, was that they were difficult to escape from in an emergency. This problem was never addressed during the entire production-life of the Lanc, which I always thought was a bit odd.

Big Gee
 
Hi Folk,
I am furtunate that where I now live, in Lincolnshire, I can see two Lancasters regularly one being Lancaster PA474 ( Phantom Of The Ruhr ), which is flown by the RAF Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight, at RAF Conningsby, the other is Lancaster NX611 ( Just Jane ) which is privately owned by the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre which is a museum on the site of former RAF station East Kirkby."Just Jane" was formerly a Gate Guardian at RAF Scampton. Both the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and The Linconshire Aviation Heritage Centre have their own Websites if you are interested.
Regards Reg
 
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