Lancaster
Famed for its prowess and entrenched in
popular culture by The Dam Busters of 1955,
the Lancaster bomber played a vital role in
securing an allied victor y in World War II
A
rguably the most famous heav y bomber of
World War II, the Av ro-built Lancaster
bomber undertook some of the most
dangerous and complex missions yet encountered
by the R AF. Primarily a night bomber but frequently
used during the day too, the Lancasters under
Bomber Command fl ew some 156,000 sorties during
the war, dropping 609,000 tons of bombs. Among
these bombs was the famous ‘bouncing bomb’
designed by British inventor Barnes Wallis, a
payload that would lead the Lancaster to remain
famed long af ter 1945. We ta ke a look inside a Av ro
Lancaster to see what made it so successful.Fuselage
The Lancaster was designed out of the earlier Avro T y pe 683
Manchester III bomber, which sported a three-finned tail layout and
was similar in construction. While the overall build remained similar
the tri-fin was removed in favour of a twin-finned set up instead. This
is famously one of only a small number of design alterations made to
the bomber, which was deemed to be just right after its test flights.Crew
Due to its large size, heft y armament and technical complexit y, the Lancaster bomber
had a crew of seven. This included: a pilot, flight engineer, navigator, bomb aimer,
wireless operator, mid-upper and rear gunners. Many crew members from Lancasters
were awarded the Victoria Cross for their heroic actions in battle, a notable example
being the two awarded after a daring daytime raid on Augsburg, Germany.Turret s
As standard the Lancaster bomber was
fitted with three twin 7.7mm turrets in the
nose, rear and upper-middle fuselage. In
some later variants of the Lancaster the t win
7.7mm machine guns were replaced with
12.7mm models, which delivered more power. The
rear and upper-middle turrets were staffed
permanently by dedicated gunners, while the nose
turret was staffed periodically by the bomb aimer when
caught up in a dogfight.Bomb bay
The bomb bay could carr y a great
payload. Indeed, the bay was so
spacious that with a little modification it
could house the massive Grand Slam
“earthquake” bomb, a 10,000kg giant
that when released would reach near
sonic speeds before penetrating deep
into the Earth and exploding.Lancaster bombers
dropped 609,00o tons
of bombsInside a
Lancaster
bomber
Lancaster bomber
Crew: 7
Length: 21.18m
Wingspan: 31.09m
Height: 5.97m
Weight: 29,000kg
Powerplant: 4 x Rolls-Royce
Merlin XX V12 engines
Max speed: 280mph
Max range: 3,000 miles
Max altitude: 8,160m
Armament: 8 x .7.7mm
Browning machine guns; bomb
load of 6,300kgThe statistics...
HISTORIC