WONZ 285 – Wings Over Britain: East Kirkby

Guests: John Marshal-East and Andrew Panton Host: Dave Homewood Recorded: 4th of July 2023 Published: 29th of September 2023 Duration: 1 hour, 10 minutes, 34 seconds In this episode Dave Homewood visited the former RAF Station at East Kirkby in Lincolnshire, home of the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre. This museum is famous for its taxiing Avro Lancaster NX611 Just Jane, and the also taxiing de Havilland Mosquito HJ711, but it is in fact dedicated to all things RAF Bomber Command. The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre was created on the former WWII RAF Bomber Command station by brothers Fred and Harold Panton as a place to house their Lancaster bomber, which they’d purchased as a tribute to their brother Christopher, who lost his life while flying operations on Handley Page Halifax bombers with Bomber Command. Dave spoke with the deputy chief engineer John Marshal-East while he was on site about the efforts of keeping the centre’s aircraft maintained and running, whilst also working on restoring the Lancaster to flying condition at the same time. At the time of Dave’s visit the centre’s manager Andrew Panton was away, but they caught up later on Zoom to record the second half of this episode. The grandson of the late co-founder Fred Panton, Andrew talks about the museum’s history and his family’s connection, as well as current projects and future plans. Andrew is also one of the pilots rated to give taxi rides in both the Lancaster and the Mosquito to the paying public, both very popular attractions at the LAHC. Quick Links: • Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre website • Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre on Facebook • I Support Avro Lancaster NX611 Just Jane Facebook Group The music in this episode is I Vow To Thee, My Country by Gustav Holst. Above: Avro Lancaster Just Jane. Above: John Marshal-East with the LAHC’s recently-acquired North American B-25 Mitchell Always Dangerous. Above: Andrew Panton in the B-25’s cockpit (Andrew Panton photo)