The Mynarski Memorial Lancaster

Winnipeg had an airborne visitor – a rare one, at that. One of the two flyable Lancasters in the world visited the Gateway to the West this week.

The “Mynarski Memorial Lancaster”, aka “Vera”, landed in Winnipeg on the evening of the 16th of July to spend a few days at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada.

Vera flew over my house, in fact. Depending on the wind direction, we often get a long string of planes coming into Winnipeg over our house. I was in the kitchen and heard an unusual plane noise, so I rushed out to the deck to witness the plane descending toward the James Richardson airport and the museum.

The plane is nicknamed “Vera” because of her call letters “VRA”.

I bought a ticket to see her at 6:30 PM. I arrived at the designated parking lot near the airport, and walked to the museum rather than wait for the shuttle bus. There was a line of about a hundred people out the door, so I joined that and we slowly advanced inside.

Once my ticket was checked, I was free to wander the museum if I chose. I went straight through to see the plane outside! There was another line there for people to go through the interior of the plane. I decided to spend my time on the outside of the plane instead, and wandered around taking lots of photographs.

It was a beautiful evening to be outside. The flight crew was there, and I spent some time talking with the flight engineer, Craig Brookhouse. He had a lot of good stories and was very friendly.

Lancaster FM213 was a Lancaster B Mark X, built at the Victory Aircraft Plant in Malton, Ontario in 1945, and came off the assembly line in July, too late to go to war. It was immediately put in storage and eventually it and 69 other Lancasters were converted to “10MR” for Maritime Reconnaissance / antisubmarine patrol. They served through the 1950s until being replaced by the Neptune, then the Argus; today the Aurora serves the same role.

FM213 was retired in 1963, and went on display by the Royal Canadian Legion in Goderich, Ontario. In 1977, restoration began on the aircraft and she finally flew again on September 24, 1988. (more history here)

7,377 Lancaster bombers were built, and today only 17 survive, 2 of them in flyable condition. The other one is in the UK, operated by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. (much more about Lancasters)

The other seven surviving Lancasters in Canada are:

• KB882 at the National Air Force Museum in Trenton, ON (formerly on display in Edmundston, NB)
• FM159 “Bazalgette” is at the Bomber Command Museum in Nanton, AB
• FM104 at the British Columbia Aviation Museum in Sidney, BC
• FM136 at the Hangar Flight Museum in Calgary, AB
• FM212 at the Canadian Aviation Museum, Windsor, ON
• KB839 at the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum, Greenwood, NS
• KB944 at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Ottawa, ON

This was the third time I’d seen the plane.

Back in the 1990s, “Vera” stopped in Fredericton for a brief visit – refueling? crew rest? – but was not on public display. My dad heard about it and managed to sneak the two of us onto the tarmac and into the plane for a very quick visit. I don’t think I have any photos but I definitely remember it.

VRA was in Winnipeg in August 2009 and I took my two youngest children to go see it. They weren’t terribly interested, but they seemed to enjoy the experience anyway.

Fifteen years later, I stood by the same plane. My kids weren’t interested in seeing it again, and they’re past the age where I can just bring them along anyway…

Please consider donating to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum to keep VERA and other planes flying. At the event this past week, they had a place where you could tap your phone or card to donate. What a great idea!

Donate to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum