August bank holiday Monday saw the second Props and Pistons event take place at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre. Showcased were around 130 exotic cars worth millions of Pounds from manufacturers such as Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Mercedes, MG and Porsche.


Held in aid of Leukemia & Lymphoma Research, the event raised £1843.00 on the day and attendance was noticeably busy, with around 2100 visitors making the best of their bank holiday.


Aircraft wise, Lancaster NX611 performed two taxy runs, with the afternoon run timed to coincide with displays by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster PA474 and Spitfire Mk.XIX PS915, presenting the crowd with the only opportunity in Europe to see two Lancasters running together - the sound of eight Merlins (and the Spitfire’s Griffon) was magical! There would have been an incredible total of nine Merlin engines but sadly the BBMF’s Hurricane was unserviceable, leaving the Lancaster and Spitfire to display in turn.


Combat veteran Dakota Drag ‘em oot  was on static display and open for interior tours. A steady stream of visitors passed through the aircraft, and there were also lengthy queues for a look inside Lancaster Just Jane’s cockpit (via a gantry). Despite the promise of very poor weather arriving during the late afternoon, Hardwick Warbirds arrived with their Harvard and P-51 Mustang pair, Marinell and ‘Janie’. The Mustangs displayed in style and drew much praise from the audience with their low and fast roaring passes, but did depart a little earlier than expected to arrive home before the looming weather front arrived.


One of the highlights of the day (and indeed the museum's display season) would have been the first display by a jet aircraft at East Kirkby. Sadly the aforementioned weather front was sitting over Coventry airfield and this prevented Air Atlantique’s Classic Flight Vampire T.55 G-HELV (XJ771) from attending.


The next major event at L.A.H.C. is the RAFBF Airshow, taking place on Saturday 15 September.

Props and Pistons - The Cars

 Props and Pistons - The Aircraft