Engineers lay out parts of WWII Lancaster bomber like a giant AIRFIX model

Looking like the largest Airfix model you could possibly imagine, parts of a World War Two Lancaster bomber are laid-out in a hangar waiting to be assembled. But this is not a toy. The pieces of wing, fuselage, bombs, machine guns and propeller blades are all real. The famous aircraft is three years into a ten-year restoration at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre in East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, which will see it return to the skies to add to the two remaining bombers which are still flying

Before it can fly again, each part of the four-engined plane, which is called ‘Just Jane’, needs to be stripped-down, checked, repaired or re-built so a certificate of airworthiness can be issued by the Civil Aviation Authority. Pictured: Aircraft engineer Gerbs Jeffery (left), 57, and apprentice engineer Bradley Winder, 24 guide the rear fuselage towards the main body of the aircraft

During the summer months Just Jane is used for ground displays and taxiing passengers around a former RAF airfield in Lincolnshire. Pictured: A view of the cockpit gives an indication of the view which pilots in the Second World War took in each time they flew the plane

Every winter, as part of the £4million project, different sections of the Lancaster are restored. This year it’s the huge tail and rear fuselage that’s being worked on. Pictured: One of the aircraft’s four twelve-cylinder Rolls Royce Merlin engines. The plane has a pristine new paint job which is faithful to how the plane would have looked during the Second World War

Some 7,377 Lancasters had carried out more than 150,000 missions by the end of the Second World War —including the supremely audacious Dambuster Raids of 1943. Pictured: A Lancaster in flight over Britain in 1942, during the War 

Andrew Panton, 33, general manager at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, said: ‘This year we thought with the number of parts we have removed from the Aircraft it looks very much like an Airfix kit’. Pictured: Parts of the plane sit on the hangar floor. They include the four Browning machine guns (centre) and one of the 250lb bombs which the plane carried (top right)

Mr Panton said his team set out to see how the plane would look from the air, ‘as an Airfix kit would have done in the packet’. He said that the Lancaster is a sectional aircraft, meaning that it comes apart in its major component pieces and then bolts back together again. Mr Panton said the aircraft reassembles ‘in a similar way you glue an Airfix kit back together’. Pictured: Engineer Mr Jeffrey working in the plane’s main fuselage

Mr Panton said that working on the project is ‘very reminiscent of being a child’ in the way in which the plane has been taken part and bolted back together again, like an Airfix model. He added: ‘On a plane this age, the rivets start to crumble and need to be replaced. As for “instructions”, we have original RAF manuals and thousands of original AVRO drawings to work from’. Pictured: Mr Jeffery and apprentice engineer Mr Winder move a rudder

Mr Panton’s great-uncle Christopher Panton was shot-down and killed during a raid on Nuremberg, Germany in a Halifax bomber in March 1944 when he was only 19 years-old . The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, which is at the site of the former RAF East Kirkby airfield, is a tribute to him and the whole of Bomber Command. Pictured: The plane’s original Browning machine guns

The plane is the only running Lancaster in Europe which visitors can climb aboard. The plane was bought in the early 1980s and moved there in 1988 to become the institution’s central attraction. Pictured: Part of the plane’s wing sits on supports as the restoration work continues

When the plane is not in pieces, it is used to taxi passengers around the airfield so they can get an experience of a Second World War Lancaster bomber on an ‘original’ airfield. Mr Panton added: ‘The next stage which we’re progressing to is making her airworthy so she can fly on air-show circuits and possibly with passengers in the future’. Pictured left: The cover for the H2S radar which was fitted to the plane sits upside down in the hangar. Right: The plane’s throttle controls

Mr Panton said many veterans have come back to East Kirkby, the place where they may have flown during the War. The airfield opened in August 1943 and was a base for the RAF’s Bomber Command. Pictured: The plane’s cockpit

The plane was built by Austin Motors in Longbridge near Birmingham in April 1945 and was due to become part of the RAF’s Tiger Force in the Far East. The early surrender of Japan meant Just Jane did not see service and went on to be used by the French Naval Air Arm

The plane’s Trolley Accumulator is seen above. It was an external battery which was used to start the aircraft’s engines. One of the men working on the project, Roy Lemmon, 56, said he will be ‘chuffed’ when the Lancaster takes to the skies again. He said: ‘It’s a privilege, it’s interesting, it’s something different. There’s a lot of corrosion and people have tried to repair it without the view of it flying, so it’s got to be taken to pieces and done properly’

Aircraft engineer Gerbs Jeffery and apprentice engineer Bradley Winder move a rudder as the partially-assembled Lancaster looms behind them. It is hoped that the plane will be able to take to the skies again later this decade

Next year will be the 80th anniversary of the Lancaster first going into service. ‘Just Jane’ was built by Austin Motors in Longbridge, in 1945. She had the serial number NX611, and was intended to become part of an RAF squadron in the Far East. Pictured: Apprentice engineer Bradley Winder and aircraft engineer Gerbs Jeffery work inside both sections of fuselage

The seven-man Lancaster crew consisted of a pilot, bomb aimer or nose gunner, wireless operator, flight engineer, navigator and mid-upper and rear gunners. Pictured: The plane’s tail turret

Overall, of the 6,000 Lancasters which were made available for duty in the war, 3,400 were lost. Tragically, about 55,000 out of the 125,000 aircrew who served in Bomber Command were killed, while 10,000 became prisoners of war. Pictured: Just Jane’s parts are seen laid out as the aircraft is worked on

Apprentice engineer Bradley Winder inspects one of the aircraft’s four twelve-cylinder Rolls Royce Merlin engines

The first prototypes of the Lancaster were built in 1941. They impressed test pilots immediately. One reported that the plane ‘took off like a startled stallion’. Pictured: Pieces of the plane are seen laid out in the hangar

By 1942, the plane was ready for active service. Lancasters were used that year in raid on Augsburg in 1942. Pictured: Apprentice engineer Bradley Winder and aircraft engineer Gerbs Jeffery work inside both sections of fuselage

From 1942 onwards, the planes played a leading role in every major raid on German cities. Of the 791 planes which dropped bombs on Hamburg on the night of July 24/25 in 1943, 247 of them were Lancasters. Pictured: Aircraft engineer Gerbs Jeffery works on one of the Lancaster’s Merlin engines

Lancasters were also modified to be able to carry bouncing bombs so they could be used in the famous Dambusters raids. However, the human cost of the raids which the Lancasters were involved in was enormous. Tens of thousands of German civilians were killed and cities were devastated. As for the pilots, in 1943, only one airman in six could expect to survive his first tour of 30 sorties. Pictured: Apprentice engineer Bradley Winder works inside the rear fuselage

Some 7,377 Lancasters had carried out more than 150,000 missions by the end of the Second World War —including the supremely audacious Dambuster Raids of 1943. Pictured: The front of the plane is seen during restoration work

A big model: The rear part of the plane is seen laid out in the style of a giant Airfix model. The plane is being restored at the site of RAF East Kirkby, where bombers once flew from

Aircraft engineer Gerbs Jeffery stands by nose of Lancaster, giving an indication of its imposing size. When in one piece, the bomber is more than 69 feet long and has a wingspan of 102 feet

An illustration on the side of the plane gives its name away. It shows a bikini-clad woman sitting on one of the aircraft’s bombs

Just Jane is seen on the runway at East Kirkby in a file image. The plane is used during the summer to taxi visitors around the airfield

In April 1952 Just Jane was bought by the French Government. Painted midnight blue, she flew in maritime patrols for the French. Ten years later, she went to Noumeau, New Caledonia, was painted white and used for air sea rescue and cartography. Pictured: The plane is seen at RAAF Butterworth in Malaysia, preparing for her flight back to the UK from Australia, in November 1962

Old footage shows Just Jane at an airfield shortly after the Second World War