WARTIME aircraft worker Alice Farrar enjoyed a trip down memory lane when she got a good look at the mighty machine which used to be her livelihood.

Alice, now 80, of Little Ouseburn, York, relived her wartime role as she made a poignant "inspection tour" of the restored Handley Page Halifax Mk III bomber at the Yorkshire Air Museum, near Elvington, York.

During the Second World War, Alice dealt regularly with the mammoth British bomber, second only to the Avro Lancaster in size and might.

Having trained initially as an airframe fitter at the Cook, Traunton and Simms works at Kirkstall, Leeds, Alice discovered that there was no work available in this trade in the area.

This led to her retraining as an airframe inspector, eventually taking up a position with Handley Page at the York Aircraft Repair Depot, based at Rawcliffe, where she worked from 1942 to 1945.

Alice, along with about a dozen other young women who worked at the YARD, often started her day at 6.30am, cycling to Linton-on-Ouse to catch a bus to York, before beginning her duties.

These involved checking replacement parts against blueprints, and ensuring that they were correctly fitted, giving them a rubber stamp of approval.

She was today spending quality time looking to see if her own stamp number, HPR 35, was to be found anywhere on the restored bomber.

Alice completed her service on December 13, 1945, and she has not seen a Halifax for 47 years.

Her big chance today was brought about through her neighbour, Peter Naylor, who is a member of the Yorkshire Air Museum.

The detailed restoration of the interior of the bomber, named "Friday The Thirteenth" earned the seal of approval from Alice, before she completed an enjoyable tour of the museum.

A spokesman for the museum said: "We are delighted to welcome Alice here, to give her the chance to see one of these magnificent aircraft once again."

Updated: 11:05 Friday, March 22, 2002