Will the Third Lancaster Bomber Fly Again?

A dedicated team of volunteers in Lincolnshire is restoring “Just Jane,” one of only 17 surviving Lancaster bombers, in hopes of returning it to flight.

sarah

Nov 9, 2025 - 20:52

Will the Third Lancaster Bomber Fly Again?

Of the 7,377 Lancaster bombers built during and after the Second World War, it's believed that only two are still flying. But a group of volunteers in Lincolnshire is hoping to change that.

On the side of the Lancaster NX6-11, below the cockpit, is the bomber's nickname, Just Jane.

But there's nothing ordinary about this aircraft – it's one of only 17 that still survive today.

Volunteers at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre in East Kirkby are halfway through a 10-year project to restore it.

For these people, Just Jane has become a symbol of a nation's sacrifice more than 80 years ago.

Andrew Panton, who owns the aircraft and the centre, is a little emotional.

He says: "It's very emotional for me and everyone who works on it. But it also shows the joy of the people who come to see it."

The Panton family's interest in war and aviation began with a loss.

His grandfather, Fred, and great-grandfather, Harold, lost their brother, Christopher, during a Bomber Command operation over Nuremberg, Germany, in 1944 during the Second World War.

The family had always wanted to create a memorial to Christopher and Bomber Command.

Mr Panton explains: "When the Lancaster and the old airfield at East Kirkby came up for sale, they decided they would combine the two to create a living memorial to Bomber Command."

"It's fulfilling Fred and Harold's dream of a flying Lancaster, that's what motivates me."

The decision to restore Just Jane was made in 2009, but Mr Panton says finding engines, buying parts and carrying out the restoration has taken a long time.

He says: "There's nothing on a Lancaster that you can just order off the shelf." "So everything has to be either custom-made or modified."

A team of eight engineers and 20 volunteers is working on the project.

Mr. Panton says, "We're restoring the port wing, the nose, and finishing off the rear fuselage."

"We're also replacing the tailplane." Mr. Panton says the team has sourced parts from a Lancaster operated by the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which often performs flypasts at air shows.

Rob Harvey, 71, was an engineer in the RAF from 1970 to 1992 and worked on aircraft such as the Tornado and Jaguar.

He first saw Just Jane in 1970.

He says, "I had absolutely no idea then that over 50 years later I'd be here working on it as a volunteer."

Mr. Harvey saw on social media that the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre was looking for volunteers to work on Just Jane.

He says: "I thought about it, I spoke to my wife and asked if she'd mind if I went and worked on an aeroplane? That was four years ago."