RSS Supplies Rigging to Lift Lancaster Bomber Sculpture

Rope and Sling Specialists Ltd. (RSS) has supplied rigging gear as Hutchinson Engineering Services cranes were used to position a life-size sculpture of a Lancaster bomber next to the A46 in Norton Disney, Lincolnshire.

The landmark project was executed by the Bomber County Gateway Trust — a Registered Charity with the object of designing, constructing, and installing an iconic landmark art installation on the county border of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

Lincolnshire is inextricably linked to aviation and in particular its home to the RAF in the Second World War. The structure is a permanent art installation, being a full-sized representation of an Avro Lancaster Mk1 Bomber constructed from a steel frame, mounted on a slim steel support structure to give the impression that it is in flight on the horizon.

RSS provided two spreader beams, six lever hoists, two collar chains, and four roundslings for Hutchinson Engineering Services. The MOD24 beams were used at 4.5m, and they combined with 9t capacity, 3m lever hoists, and 20mm diameter collar chains. The below-the-hook equipment was completed by 12t capacity, 6m-long roundslings.

Linzi Broadhead, office manager at the RSS depot in Rotherham, said: “Our equipment was used to lift the fuselage, wings, and tail of the plane. We frequently work with Hutchinson Engineering — it is typical for us to provide rigging gear for use with their fleet of cranes. However, this was a particularly notable project. This is an iconic sculpture — I read one report that said an estimated 35,000 motorists a day will see it from the road as they drive between Newark and Lincoln.”

RSS offers a comprehensive portfolio of lifting and rigging products, in addition to live365 digitalisation and compliance technology. It supplies blocks, shackles, hooks, slings, harnesses, and other rigging gear — all covered by periodic Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) inspections — to some of the UK’s most notable joint ventures, consortiums, large-scale infrastructure projects, and blue chip firms.

Broadhead added: “The fuselage weighs 21t alone and the total weight combined is approx. 75.5t. The total length of the wings is around 26.8m and the length of the substructure is 19.3m. The lift was actually kept somewhat of a secret because the team wanted to prevent too much interest being generated and attracting people to the site for the lift[s].”

The location is particularly fitting, not only because of its perfect vantage point, but also because a number of aircraft, including Lancasters, crashed nearby during the Second World War.

For more information, visit the Bomber County Gateway Trust website https://www.bombergatewaytrust.co.uk/about/

Caption: RSS supplied rigging gear for Hutchinson Engineering Services.

Caption: The plane is positioned to give the impression that it is in flight on the horizon.

Caption: RSS provided two spreader beams, six lever hoists, two collar chains, and four roundslings.

Caption: The Lancaster bomber was pieced together by the cranes and RSS rigging gear.

Contact for editorial enquiries: Steve Hutin, managing director, Rope and Sling Specialists Ltd., steve@rssgroup.co.uk