09
May
‘A huge sense of pride’: Knaresborough pilot on flying Britain’s only Lancaster Bomber for VE Day
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Yesterday marked 80 years since Victory in Europe Day, when the unconditional surrender of German forces signalled the end of the Second World War in Europe.
The RAF stages an annual flyby for the event, which starts in Norfolk and makes its way into London, passing over Buckingham Palace.
This year's flypast on Monday, May 5, saw 23 aircraft, included the Red Arrows, Typhoon and F-35 Fighter Jets, and a Lancaster Bomber, which is one of only two operational Lancasters in the world.
The Stray Ferret today spoke to Squadron Leader Paul Wise, of RAF Coningsby, who was on the flight crew for the Lancaster Bomber on Monday.
A Knaresborough-born pilot, he told us how the town inspired his love for aircraft:
I grew up in Knaresborough during the Gulf War era so there was lots of air activity in the area. I was fascinated by it.
I went to Castle [Church of England] Junior School in Knaresborough. I remember we went to RAF Linton-on-Ouse for a school trip and I was the only one that got to sit in one of the planes. That’s where I fell in love with it.
Sqn Ldr Wise joined the 1953 squadron of the Royal Air Cadets in Knaresborough after school.
The pilot worked his way through the air cadets until he joined the RAF, for which he has been flying for 26 years.
Her has been flying Lancaster Bombers for nine of those years.
Having participated in multiple VE Day flyovers, he said that piloting the Lancaster brings him a sense of pride that is “very difficult to describe”. He added it’s not just about flying it, it’s about what the plane represents.
With only one Lancaster in the air force, and two pilots, there is a limited number of people who can fly the iconic plane.
He told us what it takes to be selected:
You have to apply to fly the plane and there’s a strict list of criteria you must meet. For example, you need to have at least 3,000 flying hours.
If you get shortlisted, you then get interviewed, where you’re asked about your experience and why you want to fly this particular aircraft.
If you are selected to fly the plane, you first have to train on the Dakota before moving to the Lancaster.
The Dakota, or the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, is a multi-engine transport aircraft that was used extensively by the allied forces in the second world war.
Although Sqn Ldr Wise said pilots weren’t allowed to have favourites, he told us that flying the Dakota “pulls on the heart strings”. He said that all the roles the modern multi-engine planes have today came from this Second World War aircraft.
During the war, the Lancaster Bomber had a crew of seven people. Now, without the need for bomb aimers and gunners, there is a crew of four: two pilots, a navigator and a flight engineer.
Sqn Ldr Wise operated as the co-pilot on the day, having to carefully monitor the plane’s instruments as they kept to a miniscule time window.
He spoke about the experience:
We had a five-second window to be on time. There wasn’t much time to look down at the crowds.
Buckingham Palace was surprisingly difficult to spot anyway. The more impressive view for me was when we turned over the palace. All of the aircraft were within 30 seconds of one another; you looked back and could see all of them in formation. It was amazing.
There’s a sense of nervousness there as you’re going to land. It’s a very different style of flying to modern planes and everybody has obviously got their phones out so you can’t afford to have a bad landing.
As a result of flying the Lancaster, Sqn Ldr Wise said he has met the King at a tea party for veterans.
While that was an honour, he said the best part of his job is the “absolute privilege” of meeting veterans. He said their generation secured the freedom we enjoy now.
The average age of a Lancaster Bomber pilot during World War Two was 21. The annual RAF flyby does not just serve as a celebration of victory, but a reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made by millions of young men to protect the liberties we have today.
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