76 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION BOMBERS
AVRO LINCOLN
Type: Seven crew heavy bomber
First fl ight: June 9, 1944, entered service August 1945
Powerplant: Four 1,680hp (1,253kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin 85 V12s
Dimensions: Span 120ft 0in (36.57m), Length 78ft 3½in (23.85m)
Weights: Empty 43,400lb (19,686kg), All-up 82,000lb (37,195kg)
Max speed: 295mph (474km/h) at 15,000ft (4,572m)
Range: 1,470 miles (2,365km)
Armament: Two machine guns in nose, mid-upper and tail turrets. Up to 14,000lb
(6,350kg) of bombs
Replaced: Avro Lancaster from 1946
Taken on charge: 529
Replaced by: Boeing Washington from 1950, English Electric Canberra from 1951AVRO LINCOLN I
B
y the time of D-Day, June 6,
1944, strategic planning was
already in hand about how
the war against Japan would be
concluded. Bomber Command was
to contribute what became known as
‘Tiger Force’, initially equipped with
Lancasters modified for use in the
Far East. A more powerful and bigger
Lancaster was required and designer
Roy Chadwick turned his team to
making a ‘super’ version.
This programme was at first
designated Lancaster IV and V
with Rolls-Royce or Packard-built
Merlins, respectively. As much of the
Lancaster was included in the new
type as possible in order to speed
development, the resulting bomber’s
heritage was obvious.
Span was extended from the
Lancaster I’s 102ft 0in (31m) to
120ft 0in and length grew from
69ft 4in to 78ft 3in. The Lancaster’s
Merlin 22s were rated at 1,280hp
(954kW) while the new type had
Merlin 85s of 1,750hp. All-up weight
increased dramatically, from 49,950lb
(22,657kg) to 82,000lb.Just as the Manchester III needed a
new name – Lancaster – to emphasise
how different it was from its
predecessor, so the Lancaster IV and
V had to adopt a new label. Keeping
to the county town theme, it was
called Lincoln, reflecting the region
from which so many Lancasters were
despatched.Test pilot ‘Sam’ Brown was at the
helm for the maiden flight of the
prototype, PW925, from Ringway
on June 9, 1944. In the same month
that Japan surrendered, August 1945,
the first Lincolns were issued to 57
Squadron at East Kirkby. Lincolns
went on to be Bomber Command’s
post-war mainstay until the earlyAbove
A Lincoln II without
squadron markings in
1946 wearing the white
and black ‘Tiger Force’
colours in which the
type would have gone
to war against Japan.1918 2018AVRO
LINCOLN
1945 TO 1963