Fly Past

100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

BOMBERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 69

Above left

Delivered to Britain

in 1943, Ventura I

FN957/G was issued

directly to the

Telecommunications

Flying Unit at Defford.

This probably explains

the ‘/G’ suffi x to its

serial number, which

denoted it should be

placed under guard

whenever left idle.

It is illustrated while

under evaluation

at the Aeroplane

and Armament

Experimental

Establishment at

Boscombe Down,

fi tted with a Martin

CE250 low-profi le

turret and drop tanks.

Below

Ventura Is of 21

Squadron being

introduced to the

press at Bodney,

May 1942.

PETER GREEN

COLLECTION

LOCKHEED VENTURA

lost three aircraft; five aircrew of 21
Squadron died and another three
became prisoners of war; 12 were
killed in 487 and eight died and four
became prisoners of war with 464.
Sgt A V Ricketts and his crew of
three from 21 Squadron nursed
AE687 P-for-Pip back across the
North Sea, but just 7 miles (11.2km)
off the Suffolk coast had to ditch. An
air-sea rescue launch out of Felixstowe
picked the quartet up.

Worse was to come. On May

3, 1943, while attacking a power

station near Amsterdam, 11

Venturas were lost.

The Lockheed’s limitations as a

bomber were all too obvious and the

type was withdrawn from Bomber

Command’s order of battle in

September.

By the time the Ventura had entered

service it was outclassed. Crews found

that while they were pleasant to fly

they lacked agility, especially at low

level.

It was not often that RAF pilots

bestowed derogatory nicknames

on their aircraft, but to many the

Lockheed twin was ‘The Pig’.

Type: Five-crew light bomber

First fl ight: July 31, 1941, Mk.I entered service May 1942

Powerplant: Two 2,000hp (1,492kW) Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp GR-2800 radials

Dimensions: Span 65ft 6in (19.96m), Length 51ft 2in (15.59m)

Weights: Empty 17,250lb (7,824kg), All-up 26,000lb (11,793kg)

Max speed: 302mph (486km/h) at 18,000ft (5,486m)

Range: 950 miles (1,528km)

Armament: Two fi xed machine guns in the nose plus two movable from forward

to 30 ̊ downwards, two in dorsal turret, two in ventral position. Up

to 2,500lb (1,134kg) of bombs

Replaced: Bristol Blenheim from 1942, Lockheed Hudson from 1943

Taken on charge: 678 plus transfers to South African Air Force

Replaced by: De Havilland Mosquito from 1943, Martin Baltimore from 1944

LOCKHEED VENTURA II

“As well as Luftwaffe fi ghters and German

anti-aircraft fi re, Mother Nature played

a part in the carnage – 23 Venturas had

suffered bird strikes...”