Surviving (airworthy) WW2 bombers in europe ???

[craig.mason]

How many surviving WW2 bombers are left flying in europe

[Abbo46]

Four. B-17 at Duxford, A-26 in Germany and two B-25s, one in Holland, second in Austria.

[Big Eric]

How many surviving WW2 bombers are left flying in Europe

Is that a question?

[McG]

5 - BBMF Lancaster.

[Big Eric]

5 - BBMF Lancaster.

PA474 didn't fly in WW2 as a bomber.

[ted633]

Depends on the context of the question. Is it surviving WWII era bombers or airframes that actually served in the conflict? If the former, you can add the Blenheim.

[Amp]

Hurricane too. Okay it might have two seats now.

[Mooshie1956]

5 - BBMF Lancaster.

PA474 didn't fly in WW2 as a bomber.

Nor did Sally B, but it seems to be allowed.

[Big Eric]

5 - BBMF Lancaster.

PA474 didn't fly in WW2 as a bomber.

Nor did Sally B, but it seems to be allowed.

I don't know much about Sally B's past, but I do know that PA474 wasn't a bomber in WW2!

Here's Sally B's history after a quick Google :-

Built as a Boeing B-17G-105-VE c/n 8693, the future Sally B was one of the last to be constructed by the Lockheed-Vega plant at Burbank, California. Accepted by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) as 44-85784 on June 19 1945 it was too late to see war service, and was flown to Nashville for modifications. Converted for training purposes and re-designated TB-17G, it was based at Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson AFB), Ohio from November that year.

Continuing in the care of 2750th Air Base Group (ABG), ‘784 was selected for use as a research vehicle and in 1949 allocated EB-17G status. As such the B-17 was used in a variety of research roles, one of the most bizarre being the addition of a man-carrying pod on the starboard wingtip. Also fitted at the time was an infra-red tracking device in place of the Perspex nose. These trials continued for some years in a variety of guises and it was not until 1954 that ‘784 was returned to standard configuration, less armaments, at Hill AFB in Utah. No details have emerged of the trials which this aircraft was involved in.

In France the Institut Geographic National (IGN) had purchased several B-17s after the war for survey and mapping work, and added others as necessary; ‘784 arrived in November 1954 and was given the French registration F-BGSR. Based at Creil, these aircraft carried out work for the French government, and others, faithfully for many years. As they entered the 1970s it was apparent that the cost of operating the Flying Fortresses was getting prohibitive, also spares were becoming something of a problem. The IGN replaced the B-17s with other aircraft, including the purpose-built Hurel-Dubois HD.34.

[Mike]

Hurricane too. Okay it might have two seats now.

The Hangar 11 Hurricane was never a Hurribomber. It was only ever in that configuration in the 21st century after restoration

[Abbo46]

Whilst we're on the topic,

Any idea what happened to the ex Scandinavian Historic Flight A-26?

[starbuck]

What about the il2?

[starbuck]

Swordfish?

[Unknown74]

What about the surviving B-17 in France? Is it still flying?

[Mike]

The B-17 hasn't flown for close to a decade now

[Witchcraft24]

If we are talking two engine or more, and WW2 types, rather than whether they saw active service, I think it is currently the BBMF Lancaster, Sally B and the Red Bull B25.

Talking to the Sharkmouth P51 pilot last year he suggested that the A26 has not been maintained in an airworthy condition and would now take some work to get it there.

Also, the Dutch B25 has some significant issues at the moment and won’t be in the display circuit until at least 2020.

[Mike]

Witchcraft24,

There are also Catalinas in France and at Duxford, the Duxford Blenheim, plus the A-26 recently ferried from Athens to Meier Motors in Germany.

[FarnboroJohn]

Single engine I know, but what about the Saab B-17? Really enjoyed that at Duxford some years ago.

[CJS]

Ju-52, do they (nearly) count? Fairly sure they were occasionally used to lob bombs out of weren't they?

[starbuck]

Are there any flying Avengers in Europe at the moment? There was one in France wasn’t there?

[Abbo46]

Two, I believe. One in France, one in Switzerland.

[boff180]

As far as I can think of... air to ground/sea WW2 types that are airworthy in Europe (not including Russia)

Lancaster
B-17
B-25
A-26
Blenheim
Swordfish
Avenger/TB-3
Catalina