AVRO LANCASTRIAN 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 51hung below the wings in place of one
or more of the original Rolls-Royce
Merlin piston engines. In the event
of a problem the aircraft was capable
of flying on just two Merlins.
Fuel arrangements varied but could
include kerosene jet fuel in outer
wing tanks or fuselage tanks, with
avgas carried in remaining tanks.
The first RAF Lancastrian test
bed to fly was VH742, which was
delivered to the Rolls-Royce flight
development airfield at Hucknall,
Notts, in October 1945. Its outer
Merlin engines were removed and
replaced by Rolls-Royce Nene
turbojets. The fuel system was
completely rebuilt and new nacelles
created to house the jets.
It flew again on August 14, 1946
and on September 19 VH742
acted as the world’s first jet airliner
by making three passenger flights
carrying representatives of the Press
as well as Ministry officials and
other passengers.
Rolls-Royce also flew a second
Nene-Lancastrian (VH737) and two
Avon-powered examples (VM732
and VL970). The latter was used for
almost six years and was ultimately
involved in the development of the
Avon 502 civil turbojet.
The first examples of the de
Havilland Comet were powered by
the de Havilland Ghost 50 engine;
examples of which were tested inthe outer positions of Lancastrian
VM703 from July 24, 1947. The
aircraft also trialled the use of
fuselage mounted rockets to boost
take-off performance and a second
Lancastrian (VM729) eventually
joined the programme.
The Lancastrian excelled at the
flying test bed role and later
examples flew with engines as
diverse as the Armstrong Siddeley
Sapphire, Canadian Orenda and
Swedish Dovern.
Turboprops including the Dart,
Mamba and Python were also trialled
on the Lancastrian, which is perhaps
one of the most under-appreciated
‘cargo’ aircraft to fly with the RAF.Above
Lancastrian VM728
was built as part of
the fi rst batch of 20
C.2s ordered by the
RAF. The aircraft were
delivered between
December 1945 and
January 1946. ANDY
HAY/WWW.FLYINGART.
CO.UKLeft
Lancastrian VH742
was the fi rst RAF test
bed to fl y. Its outer
Merlin engines were
removed and replaced
by Rolls-Royce Nene
turbojets.Below left
Lancastrian VM703
was used to test the
Ghost 50 engines
destined for the
Comet jetliner. The
aircraft fi rst fl ew in
this confi guration on
July 24, 1947.Type: Five-crew transport aircraft
First fl ight: 1943, entered service April 1945
Powerplant: Four 1,250hp (930kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 piston engines
Dimensions: Span 102ft (31.08m), length 76ft (23.16m)
Weights: Empty 30,423lb (13,800kg), all-up 64,991lb (29,480kg)
Max speed: 310mph (499km/h) at 5,000ft (1,524m)
Range: 4,150 miles (6,677km)
Capacity: 9 passengers and 7,848lb (3,560kg) or cargo
Replaced: Douglas Dakota
Taken on charge: 43 (Two Mk.1, 33 Mk.2, eight Mk.4)
Replaced by: Handley Page HastingsAVRO LANCASTRIAN C MK.I