The Coachmakers visit Duxford

A small group of Coachmakers, including IPM Steve Fitz-Gerald, visited Imperial War Museum Duxford on 31st July. Members were met at 10.30am by the splendid Mick Child and taken to the AirSpace exhibition, where we heard an interesting talk on the history of the iconic Avro Lancaster bomber, by the very knowledgeable Amber Gough, whilst standing in front of one of the last remaining Lancasters.

Amber described how the aircraft was designed by Roy Chadwick from AV Roe and Co, following on from his design of the Manchester bomber. She then showed where the crew were positioned, including the rear gunners, whose life expectancy was on average five sorties, or six to eight weeks. She detailed the role played by the aircraft in the ‘Dambusters’ raid.

Finally, we were given a tour of the inside of the aircraft and we could not believe how small the interior was compared with the size of the plane. After a relaxed lunch everyone went on their own tour to visit all the other buildings and collections, including the American museum which includes a B-52D Stratofortress bomber and a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, which is reputed to be the fastest plane ever built.

A fabulous day out and one to be recommended to everyone of all ages.