Three Cities of Lincoln - one Lancaster Bomber, B747-400, and one real city

David Jason thoroughly enjoyed his 30 minute flight in Red One’s back seat, a full nine aircraft practice of the display routine

One very dark and wet Friday afternoon early in 1991 the Station Commander of RAF Scampton, Group Captain Richard Gowring, telephoned and asked me to meet him at 4.30pm outside the MT Hangar which was in a corner of the airfield not far from the Red Arrows’ hangar. Some BBC people wanted to have a look at the hangar with a view to broadcasting a band concert from within. Naturally I said I would be there but I was mystified by the choice of venue. It turned out that the BBC had planned to record one of their popular ‘Friday Night is Music Night’ programmes from RAF Coningsby on Thursday 16 May, the anniversary of the famous Dam Busters’ Raid in 1943. It so happened that the date coincided with the delivery to British Airways of a brand-new Boeing 747-400, registration GBNLT but always known simply as Lima Tango. The aircraft was to be named ‘City of Lincoln’ by the Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire out on the airfield at Coningsby. The Jumbo jet would be parked nose to nose with the other ‘City of Lincoln’, the Lancaster of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight based at Coningsby. Unfortunately, the Station Commander at Coningsby had decided that he would be unable to offer the necessary facilities for the band concert because of the on-going Gulf War. Many of Coningsby’s personnel were still away on active service in the Middle East so one could understand his reluctance to have a public concert on base.

The BBC researchers and engineers were dismayed when we showed them inside the hangar. It was exactly what you would expect an MT hangar to be: dirty, dark, cold, and full of vehicles. In any case the BBC wanted a space large enough to contain the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Central Band of the RAF, and an audience of about 1000. Our MT hangar was obviously much too small. The researcher was getting desperate and asked if there were any other hangars at Scampton that might be more suitable. I suggested number 1 Hangar – it was under-utilised at that time and the few aircraft that usually spent the night in there could easily be accommodated in one of the other three aircraft hangars just for one night.

We drove in convoy to 1 Hangar at the other end of the airfield in driving rain and went inside. Instantly the BBC folk were delighted with what they saw. It was much larger than the MT hangar, it was clean, and it had its own efficient heating system. Group Captain Gowring committed himself to hosting the band concert. What we did not know then was that the BBC wanted the British Airways Jumbo and the Battle of Britain Flight Lancaster to be at Scampton for the concert, the Lancaster inside the hangar with the audience around it and the Jumbo just outside the hangar on Echo dispersal. When I questioned this requirement for aircraft to be in position at a radio concert, the BBC researcher assured me that, although this was one of a series of radio concerts, they always tried to make their sets look as pleasing and impressive for the audience at the recording session as possible. The theme for this programme would be the two City of Lincoln aircraft in a programme coming from the City of Lincoln itself and it was, therefore, important that the audience at the recording could see both aircraft and get up close to them even if the audience on the radio could not.

I thought it worth pointing out there and then to the BBC folk that Scampton is not in the city of Lincoln, any more than Coningsby is. The confusion this quirk of geography causes is something which, from time to time, niggles the councillors of the West Lindsey District Council in whose bailiwick Scampton really is. West Lindsey DC has its headquarters in Gainsborough which is twice as far from Scampton as Lincoln is. Most ordinary people do not worry themselves about local politics but I learned soon after starting work at Scampton that there is a long standing jealousy between the District Council and the City Council and that civic protocol is all important – to the councillors at least. For example, the Mayor of Lincoln is not permitted to attend a function at RAF Scampton wearing the official Chain of Office without getting the prior permission of the Chairman of the District Council. The BBC researcher was not fazed by this intelligence but, as the RAF Scampton Community Relations Officer, I would have to make sure that the Chairman and councillors from West Lindsey DC were invited to the concert and they would no doubt make sure that the Mayor and Corporation of the City of Lincoln did not get all the glory.

The week before the concert was recorded David Jason, Del Boy from the popular TV series ‘Only Fools and Horses, came to fly with the Red Arrows. The image shows David clearing his ears after lading following his full display practice with the Red Arrows. Click the image to download an even larger version should you need it!! During the Gulf War, David and his co-star Nicholas Lyndhurst had done a lot of welfare work on behalf of British Forces in the Gulf. They had, for instance, bought a three-wheeler yellow Reliant and had it painted up like the Trotters’ vehicle in the TV series. They had then filled the vehicle with goodies, including food and videos, and had it flown out at their own expense to the Middle East. Some time later the Commander-in-Chief of Strike Command had invited David and Nicholas to lunch at High Wycombe to say an official thank you for their generosity. During the meal the C-in-C asked them if there was something he could do in return. David Jason immediately replied that what he would really like was to have a trip with the Red Arrows. The Strike Command C-in-C was a little put out. He had expected, and hoped, that the pair would ask for a trip in a Strike Command aircraft such as the Harrier or Tornado. That would have made a good PR story for his command. However, he did the decent thing and arranged matters with Support Command C-in-C who did own Scampton.

Unfortunately Nicholas Lyndhurst was appearing in the West End at the time and his manager would not allow him to undertake what he, the manager, perceived as a dangerous activity. No such problem with David. He thoroughly enjoyed his 30 minute flight in Red One’s back seat, a full nine aircraft practice of the display routine, very rare privilege for a non-pilot.

‘David discovered where the radio press-to-transmit button is,’ said Team Leader Adrian Thurley after the flight. ‘After that I could hardly get a word in edgeways to control the display. David kept transmitting "Come in number two", "you’re too close Red Three" and similar remarks. It was amazing. I’ve never flown a civilian passenger in any jet who was so at ease as David was.’

There were no media present because David had requested that it should be a private visit. I was out of the flight line with my own camera when they landed and watched as he rushed along the flight line with seemingly boundless energy shaking hands with all the pilots. He then disappeared into the ground crew coffee bar and regaled them with jokes and stories non-stop for about half an hour. It was greatly appreciated. What a good thing it had been the last sortie of the day because the Hawks’ turn-round servicings were delayed for quite some time.

There was much excitement around the Station and the local area as soon as word leaked out that the ‘City of Lincoln’ Boeing 747 would be coming to land at Scampton immediately after the naming ceremony at Coningsby. The Dash 400 mark of the Boeing 747, that is the version with the turned up wing tips, was still quite a rare bird in 1991 and it would be by far the largest aircraft ever to touch down on our runway. There had to be many measurements and calculations to make sure the runway was strong enough and the taxiways wide enough to accommodate the aircraft.

All was well and the aircraft landed safely after flying around the local area at low level to make sure as many people as possible could get a good view of it. I was surprised to discover that the enormous main undercarriage legs of the 747 are steerable and that enables the aircraft to turn in its own length – literally. I met the crew on Echo dispersal when they disembarked and took them down to 4 Hangar for refreshments and to meet the Red Arrows while the British Airways engineers worked on the aircraft. That was the start of a long Red Arrows’ association with the airline’s 747 Fleet.

The band concert was a great success and Lima Tango was a really impressive sight parked on Echo dispersal, lit with sodium floodlights. It had been delivered from the factory in Seattle just a few days earlier. The Lancaster looked equally imposing inside the hangar placed centrally amongst the audience of over 2,000 packed into the hangar to listen to the concert, more than twice the originally planned number and there was still room to spare.

When the recording was in the can, anyone who wanted, and most people did, had conducted tours of the pristine Jumbo. What a pity it was not on television. The station got a lot of excellent PR out of the concert but the real stars were the two City of Lincoln aeroplanes. The event started me off on an idea that was to come to fruition two years later.

Back to the top