(Avro) 683 Lancaster @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Avro Lancaster Avro Lancaster
    Avro Lancaster
  • Lancaster 428<br>Squadron RCAF Lancaster 428<br>Squadron RCAF
    Lancaster 428
    Squadron RCAF
  • The Lancaster of the Royal<br>Air Force Battle of<br>Britain Memorial Flight The Lancaster of the Royal<br>Air Force Battle of<br>Britain Memorial Flight
    The Lancaster of the Royal
    Air Force Battle of
    Britain Memorial Flight
  • Lancaster of 617 Sqn RAF<br>dropping "Grand Slam"<br>on the Arnsberg viaduct<br>(1945) Lancaster of 617 Sqn RAF<br>dropping "Grand Slam"<br>on the Arnsberg viaduct<br>(1945)
    Lancaster of 617 Sqn RAF
    dropping "Grand Slam"
    on the Arnsberg viaduct
    (1945)
  • A Lancaster<br>B.III with<br>the Upkeep<br>bouncing<br>bomb<br>(Dam<br>busting) A Lancaster<br>B.III with<br>the Upkeep<br>bouncing<br>bomb<br>(Dam<br>busting)
    A Lancaster
    B.III with
    the Upkeep
    bouncing
    bomb
    (Dam
    busting)
  • Lancaster B Mk.II of 115 Squ RAF with Bristol Hercules radials (1943) Lancaster B Mk.II of 115 Squ RAF with Bristol Hercules radials (1943)
    Lancaster B Mk.II of 115 Squ RAF with Bristol Hercules radials (1943)
  • Lancaster B Mk.Is of 44 Sqn RAF (1942) Lancaster B Mk.Is of 44 Sqn RAF (1942)
    Lancaster B Mk.Is of 44 Sqn RAF (1942)
  • Lancaster B Mk.II Lancaster B Mk.II
    Lancaster B Mk.II
  • Lancaster B1 Lancaster B1
    Lancaster B1
  • RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command
    RAF Bomber Command
  • Lancaster B1 Lancaster B1
    Lancaster B1
  • Avro Lancaster B1 Avro Lancaster B1
    Avro Lancaster B1
  • Bomb aimer<br>(1943) Bomb aimer<br>(1943)
    Bomb aimer
    (1943)
  • The bomb bay<br>Sept 1942 The bomb bay<br>Sept 1942
    The bomb bay
    Sept 1942
  • The Flight Engineer The Flight Engineer
    The Flight Engineer
  • The Navigator The Navigator
    The Navigator
  • The Radio The Radio
    The Radio
  • The tail gunner The tail gunner
    The tail gunner
  • In formation In formation
    In formation
  • Lancaster B Mk.I of 83 Sqn RAF at Scampton, Lincolnshire,<br>on the June 1942 Thousand-Bomber raid to Bremen Lancaster B Mk.I of 83 Sqn RAF at Scampton, Lincolnshire,<br>on the June 1942 Thousand-Bomber raid to Bremen
    Lancaster B Mk.I of 83 Sqn RAF at Scampton, Lincolnshire,
    on the June 1942 Thousand-Bomber raid to Bremen
  • Lancaster B1 Lancaster B1
    Lancaster B1
  • Avro Lancaster NX611 at RAAF Butterworth Avro Lancaster NX611 at RAAF Butterworth
    Avro Lancaster NX611 at RAAF Butterworth
  • Avro Lancaster of the french Aéronautique navale (Morocco, 1956) Avro Lancaster of the french Aéronautique navale (Morocco, 1956)
    Avro Lancaster of the french Aéronautique navale (Morocco, 1956)
  • A Lancaster built by Victory Aircraft in 1945<br>converted by Avro Canada to Mk.19P in 1949 A Lancaster built by Victory Aircraft in 1945<br>converted by Avro Canada to Mk.19P in 1949
    A Lancaster built by Victory Aircraft in 1945
    converted by Avro Canada to Mk.19P in 1949

Avro Lancaster

Built to replace the under powered twin engine Manchester, the Lancaster had one of the most successful careers during World War 2. First flight happened on 9 January 1941. Thanks to a relative light weight, the bomber from Avro gave one of the best combinations in speed, ceiling and payload of its time.

With an armament of eight .3O3 machine guns and almost no defensive armour, the Lancaster was able to carry heavy loads, like the 22,000 lb "Grand Slam" bomb.

The Lancaster succeeded in many missions, among which the destruction of over one third of the German submarines (at their base), the sinking of the Tirpitz Battleship at Tromso, the spectacular "Dambusters" missions over the Ruhr dams and many night raids over German cities like Dresden.

Operational history

The first RAF squadron to convert to the Lancaster was No. 44 Squadron RAF in early 1942.

A total of 7,374 Lancasters where built during the war in England and Canada (at Austin Motors and Victory Aircraft). They flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 608,612 tons of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and was scrapped in 1947.

A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The mission was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk.IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. The story of the mission was later made into a film, The Dam Busters. Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship.

Lancasters from Bomber Command were to have formed the main strength of Tiger Force, the Commonwealth bomber contingent scheduled to take part in Operation Downfall, the codename for the planned invasion of Japan in late 1945, from bases on Okinawa.

RAF Lancasters dropped food into the Holland region of the occupied Netherlands, with the acquiescence of the occupying German forces, to feed people who were in danger of starvation. Named after the food Manna which miraculously appeared for the Israelites in the book of Exodus, the aircraft involved were from 1, 3 and 8 Groups, and consisted of 145 Mosquitoes and 3,156 Lancasters, flying between them a total of 3,298 sorties. The first of the two RAF Lancasters chosen for the test flight was nicknamed "Bad Penny" from the old expression: "a bad penny always turns up." This bomber, with a crew of seven men (five Canadians including pilot Robert Upcott of Windsor, Ontario), took off in bad weather on the morning of 29 April 1945 without a ceasefire agreement from the German forces, and successfully dropped her cargo.

A development of the Lancaster was the Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. These two marks became the Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively. There was also a civilian airliner based on the Lancaster, the Lancastrian. Other developments were the York, a square-bodied transport and, via the Lincoln, the Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992.

In 1946, four Lancasters were converted by Avro at Bracebridge Heath, Lincolnshire as freighters for use by British South American Airways, but proved to be uneconomical and were withdrawn after a year in service.

Four Lancaster IIIs were converted by Flight Refuelling Limited as two pairs of tanker and receiver aircraft for development of in-flight refuelling. In 1947, one aircraft was flown non-stop 3,355 miles from London to Bermuda. Later the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties.

Fifty-nine Lancaster B.I and B.VII were overhauled by Avro at Woodford and Langar and delivered to the French Aeronavale during 1952/53. These were flown until the mid-1960s by four squadrons in France and New Caledonia in the maritime reconnaissance and search-and-rescue roles.

During its Argentinian service, Lancasters were used in several military coups.

Variants

B I: The original Lancasters were produced with Rolls-Royce Merlin XX engines and SU carburettors. Minor details were changed throughout the production series - for example the pitot head design was changed from being on a long mast at the front of the nose to a short fairing mounted on the side of the fuselage under the cockpit. Later production Lancasters had Merlin 22 and 24 engines. No designation change was made to denote these alterations.

B I Special: Adapted to take first the super-heavy "Tallboy" and then "Grand Slam" bombs. Upgraded engines with paddle-bladed propellers gave more power, and the removal of gun turrets reduced weight and gave smoother lines. For the Tallboy, the bomb bay doors were bulged; for the Grand Slam, they were removed completely and the area faired over. For some Tallboy raids the mid upper turret was removed. This modification was retained for the Grand Slam aircraft, and in addition the nose turret was later removed. Two airframes were modified to carry a dorsal "saddle tank" with 1,200 gallons mounted aft of a modified canopy for increasing range. No. 1577 SD Flight tested the aircraft in India and Australia in 1945 for possible use in the Pacific, but the tank adversely affected handling characteristics when full and flight refuelling was later used instead.

PR 1: B 1 modified for photographic reconnaissance, operated by RAF No. 82 and No. 541 Squadrons, wartime. All armament and turrets were removed with a reconfigured nose and a camera carried in the bomb bay. The type was also operated by 683 Squadron from circa 1950 for photographic reconnaissance based at Aden and subsequently Habbaniya in Iraq until disbanded 30 November 1953.

B I (FE): In anticipation of the needs of the Tiger Force operations against the Japanese in the Far East (FE), a tropicalized variant was based on late production aircraft. The B I (FE) had modified radio, radar, navaids and a 400 gallon tank installed in the bomb bay. The mid-upper turret was also removed.

B II: Bristol Hercules (Hercules VI or XVI engines) powered variant, of which 300 were produced by Armstrong Whitworth. One difference between the two engine versions was that the VI had manual mixture control, requiring an extra lever on the throttle pedestal. These aircraft were almost always fitted with an FN.64 ventral turret and pronounced step in the bulged bomb bay.

B III: These aircraft were fitted with Packard-built Merlin engines and produced at the same time as the B I, the two marks being indistinguishable externally. The minor differences between the two variants were related to the engine installation, and included the addition of slow-running cut-off switches in the cockpit, a requirement due to the Bendix Stromberg pressure-injection carburettors fitted to the Packard Merlin engines.

B III (Special): Known at the time of modification as the "Type 464 Provisioning" Lancaster, this variant was built to carry the "Upkeep" bouncing bomb for the dam busting raids. The bomb bay doors were removed and Vickers-built struts to carry the bomb were fitted in their place. A hydraulic motor, driven by the pump previously used for the mid upper turret was fitted to spin the bomb. Lamps were fitted in the bomb bay and nose for the simple height measurement system which enabled the accurate control of low-flying altitude at night. The mid-upper turret was removed to save weight, and the gunner moved to the front turret to relieve the bomb aimer from having to man the front guns so that he could assist with map reading.

ASR III/ASR 3: B III modified for air-sea rescue, with three dipole ventral antennas fitted aft of the radome and carrying a lifeboat in the re-configured bomb bay. The armament was often removed and the mid-upper turret faired-over, especially in postwar use. Observation windows were added to both sides of the rear fuselage, a port window just forward of the tailplane, and a starboard window into the rear access door. A number of ASR 3 conversions were fitted with Lincoln-style rudders.

GR 3/MR 3: B III modified for maritime reconnaissance.

B IV: The B IV featured an increased wingspan and lengthened fuselage and new Boulton Paul "F" turret (for two 0.5in) with re-configured framed "bay window" nose glazing. The prototypes (PW925, PW929 and PW932) were powered by two-stage Merlin 85s inboard and later, Merlin 68s on the outboard mounts. The prototypes became the basis of the renamed Lincoln B 1.

B V: Increased wingspan and lengthened fuselage, two-stage Merlin 85s. Later renamed Lincoln B 2.

B VI: Nine aircraft converted from B IIIs. Fitted with Merlin 85s which had two-stage superchargers, giving improved high altitude performance. These aircraft were only used by Pathfinder units, often as "Master Bomber". The dorsal and nose turrets were often removed and faired-over.

B VII: The B VII was the final production version of the Lancaster. The Martin 250CE mid-upper turret was re-positioned slightly further forward than on previous Marks, and the Nash & Thomson FN-82 tail turret with twin Browning 0.5 in machine guns replaced the FN.20 turret with four 0.303 Browning machine guns.

B X: This was a Canadian-built B III with Canadian- and US-made instrumentation and electrics. On later batches the heavier Martin 250CE was substituted for the Nash & Thomson FN-50 mid-upper turret, mounted further forward to maintain centre of gravity balance. Canada was a long term operator of the Lancaster, utilising modified aircraft in postwar maritime patrol, search and rescue and photo-reconnaissance roles until 1964. The last flight by the RCAF was flown on July 4, 1964 at the Calgary International Air Show.

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This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Avro Lancaster of Wikipedia ( authors )

Specifications

  • Crew: 7 men, (1 pilot, 1 flight engineer, 1 navigator, 1 radio, 2 gunners and 1 bomb aimer / front gunner).
  • Wingspan: 102 ft.
  • Length: 69 ft 6 in.
  • Height: 20 ft.
  • Wing Area: 1300 sq ft.
  • Wing loading: 48 lb/ft² (or 240 kg/m²).
  • Maximum Speed: 240 kts (or 280 mph, or 450 km/h) at 15,000 ft (or 5,600 m).
  • Cruising Speed: 185 to 225 mph.
  • Service Ceiling: 20,000 ft (at max weight).
  • Maximum Weight: 61,500 lb.
  • Empty Weight: 36,500 lb.
  • Fuel: 2,154 gallons.
  • Range: 2,530 miles with 7,000 lb load / 1730 miles with 12,000 lb load / 1,550 miles with 22,000 lb load.
  • Engines: 4 V-12 Rolls Royce Packard Merlin 224.
  • Power: 1,280 hp (or 954 kW) each.
  • Power/mass: 0.082 hp/lb (or 130 W/kg).
  • Armament: Nose turret -two.3O3 cal. / mid-upper turret -two.3O3 cal. / tail turret -four.3O3 cal. Maximum normal bomb load of 14,000lbs or 22,000lb Grand Slam with modifications to bomb bay.

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Avro Lancaster of Wikipedia ( authors )
Avro 683 Lancaster : Your comments on this subject
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