I wish I could have been there. 

As others have said, once you have heard a Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engine, you never forget the sound.  My office is near Filton airport in North Bristol and I have occasionally heard a Merlin engine overhead.  Marvellous sound!

The last time that I saw the BoB memorial flight was some years ago at an airshow at Biggin Hill.  There were a large number of Spitfires and Hurricanes there too and at one point no fewer than 12 Spits in the air at the same time.

The closing event was an aerobatic display by a solitary Spitfire and it was very moving. 

Almost all of the guys who flew these aeroplanes are now dead yet we can still see these beautiful aircraft flying today, more than 60 years later.  They are truly a living memorial to the courageous aircrew of WWII, many of whom never returned. 

I am currently reading Bomber Boys and apparently a bomber crewman had only a 1 in 3 chance of surviving a tour of 30 missions.  Their casualty rate was the highest of any branch of the armed services.  

Reminds me of a quote I once heard;

Designed by Geniuses, Built by Craftsmen, Flown by Heroes. 

Lancaster

Isn't it odd how fate plays a part in such legend?

The prototype Lancaster was originally called the Avro Manchester 2 and was developed from the Avro Manchester which had an almost identical fuselage, but used just two Rolls Royce "Vulture" engines.

These machines were plagued by unreliability issues and so they decided to use the Merlin instead but because they were smaller engines, they had to redesign the wings and have four instead of the two vultures.

Luckily, they also decided to drop the name "Manchester 2" in favour of the Lancaster, and the rest as they say, is history.

Now I don't want to cast aspersions, but can you really imagine getting so enthused if we were remembering an Avro Manchester bomber, and would it really sound the same if we said that we loved the sound of a” vulture" engine?

I don't think the name Manchester or Lancaster would have made any Difference.

Many people just remember the Lancaster for the Dambuster raids and if they were carried out by a different aircraft, maybe it would be that aircraft that people would be so enthused about? 

The Merlin engines and the design of the aircraft do make it something special though.

You must have been at a similar elevation to me Wayne.

(I read that wrong, I thought you said Power ROLL)! 

Eh, You mean the Eurofighter?

No.

It is a Tornado.  99% sure.

No I can see as soon as I posted that is wasn't, It has no forewings and a typhoon has a fixed delta wing.

It's a Tornado GR4, I can see it now!

You don't often see them pictured from above like that!

Spitfire & Hurricane.

I am not 100% but I think the Spitfire is the blue one in 'Navy' Colours.