Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, England, was founded in 1988 by Lincolnshire farmers Fred and Harold Panton, as a memorial to their brother Pilot Officer Christopher Panton, who along with 55,000 other aircrew of Bomber Command lost their lives during World War II. Christopher was killed in a 433 Sqn (Canadian) Lancaster from RAF Skipton-on-Swale, having been shot down over Nuremberg on March 30/31 1944 (over 500 aircrew were shot down that night by nightfighters - more aircrew than the whole of the Battle of Britain).

The centre is sited on part of the old Royal Air Force airbase RAF East Kirkby and at the entrance to the site there is a [http://raf-lincolnshire.info/eastkirkby/eastkirkbyphoto11.htm memorial] to the crews of No. 57 and No. 630 squadrons, who were based there during World War II.

The Panton brothers acquired the land in 1981, and in 1983 bought the gate guardian Lancaster bomber from RAF Scampton . It was not until 1987 that the bomber was delivered to site, and the museum was opened the following year. Serial number [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/595636 NX611] the plane was christened " [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/595435 Just Jane] " after the war-time comic strip character, and is regularly taxied along the Concrete apron.

The Centre also has a Spitfire and a large number of other exhibits, making it an important aviation heritage centre.

The airfield was originally built in 1943 as a Bomber Command Station and though much of the runway is still intact today it is used by local farmers as hard standing. The airfield was featured in a 1980s BBC series about WWII airfields, and in 2001 "Just Jane" was filmed taxiing at high speed for a BBC wartime drama entitled "Night Flight". The [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/444656 control tower] is believed to be haunted.

External links

* [http://www.lincsaviation.co.uk/ Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre -Official site]