Battle of Britain plane that flew for Queen’s birthday fails safety check
Battle of Britain memorial planes have been stopped from flying as it emerged that there is a fault with one of the Hurricanes that flew over central London on the Queen’s birthday.
Damage to a pin that holds the engine in place was uncovered during a routine inspection, meaning seven planes with the same type of engine are now confined to the ground.
The memorial flight, which includes historic RAF bomber and fighter planes, was due to fly at several air show events this week.
But the planes with the affected Rolls-royce Merlin engine will not fly until engineers have been able to inspect them and declare them safe.
The affected planes are one Lancaster bomber and three Spitfires, as well as two Hurricanes that were part of an RAF fly-past over Buckingham Palace on June 17.
One of the planes is the last airworthy Spitfire that flew in the Battle of Britain, and the Lancaster is one of only two left flying in the world. Others in the fleet, including Spitfires and a Chipmunk, which have a Griffon engine, are still airworthy, the RAF said.
It is not known when or how the damage took place or whether the affected part is original or a replacement. An RAF spokesman said: “We are currently investigating the fault and as a precaution, flying of Merlin engine aircraft has been paused.”