Lancaster

World War II British Military
#1

The Avro Lancaster entered service with the RAF in 1942 and became one of the most successful night bombers of the war. The Lancaster was also used by Argentina, Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, New Zealand, and No 300 Polish Squadron.

There were several adaptations of the Lancaster including the Upkeep ‘bouncing bomb’ special for the Dambuster raid, and versions made to carry the Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs.

The Lancaster was armed with 8 x 7.7 mm machine guns in 3 turrets, and 14,000 lb of bombs as standard. A single Tallboy bomb of 12,000 lb, Grand Slam of 22,000 lb, or Upkeep of 9,250 lb were carried in the Special versions.

BI of the Argentine Air Force 1948.

BI of 12 Squadron RAF 1942.

#2

Nice work, as usual mate. I love’em.

#3

Thanks :slight_smile:

I have a close-up too, as the final pics are a tad small…

Lancaster_Nose..jpg
Lancaster_Nose..jpg1200×740 106 KB

#4

Cool.

#5

:slight_smile: Ongoing modifications and upgrades will appear as I get time…

BI Special of 617 Squadron RAF 1945.

#6

Beautiful Clave…a fine representation of a fine aircraft.

#7

Thanks!

A couple more:

BI of 9 Squadron Royal Egyptian Air Force 1950.

BIII Special of 617 Squadron RAF 1943.

#8

Cool stuff.

#9

My Mathematics teacher at college (High School, for our American members) was a Navigator aboard Lancasters during WW2. It was often very interesting having discussions with him about them, and the operations and raids he’d been on.
I was one of those rare kids, able to talk on familiar terms with the folk who’d used equipment and flown aircraft, because I’d studied much of it.
I have been aboard a Lancaster (the one at MOTAT, Auckland, NZ) and can tell you that internally they are small, despite the apparent external dimensions. literally: “Just enough space for each man to perform the tasks his duties require, and not a square inch more”.

Many Thanks Clave, for these lovely images.

Kind Regards, Uyraell.

#10

I worked at RAF Conningsby for 4 years and had a few opportunities to go inside the BBMF’s Lanc.

My grandad was a tail gunner starting with Blenhiems then Wimpys and finally Manchester/Lancs. After squeezing into the rear turret and closing the door it is cramped and uncomfortable even when only wearing my normal uniform never mind all the flying gear and sitting in there for up to 8 hours.

My grandad used to say the rear turret was the only one that had to be manned when flying (due to crew shortages they sometimes flew with the other turrets unmanned) going so far as to drag ground personnel ‘mess stewards etc’ to man the rear turret.

#11

Interestingly, I can confirm that detail about grabbing men for tail-turret duty. My maths teacher said that it was reasonably frequent, and that the officers knew full well it went on, but did not discourage it, because any airborne crew was better than the plane not flying the raid.
As to tail turret: I agree. I managed to sit a little while in every crew position in the Lanc at MOTAT, including the tail turret. It was bloody tight fit, even in ordinary clothing. There’s an unreal sense of being a fish in a glass bowl, and that was in daylight.
It took little effort to imagine several hours, half deafened by the engine noise, half frozen, having to remain fully alert, and virtually locked into a space smaller than a modern refridgerator, little larger than the average dishwasher-machine. Not an experience I’d have enjoyed, even though I by no means suffer from claustrophobia.

Kind and Respectful Regards Leccy, Uyraell.

#12

Nice art, Argentina had also Lincolns.

#13

Panzerknacker
you may be interested to know that despite the amount of lancasters made and operated in the UK the last flying one in Europe at the BBMF is complete due to getting the mid upper turret that it was doing air displays without, from Argentina in 1975.

Uyrael
My Grandad was 6’ 6" tall so I have no idea how he fitted in the rear turret as I found it difficult to get in at 5’ 10". He managed to bail out 3 times from the rear turret although the last time he had to go past the ammo tanks that fed the guns and got badly burnt.

#14

Hello Leccy, :slight_smile:
I’m 5’11" close enough, so I quite see how your grandfather would have found the tail turret a tight fit.

The ammotanks were always an issue in the Lanc, as was the main door in the fuselage. I can understand the difficulty in getting past those tanks in an emergency.

The Air Ministry also knew full well the door was too small to permit crew to bail out easily, and in fact a Mk3 door, slightly taller by about 3 inches but about 8 inches wider had been designed and fitted, but Both the AM and Ministry of Aircraft Production (essentially, Lord Beaverbrook) refused outright to stop or slow production of Lancasters for long enough to have the Mk3 Fuselage entry door fitted. In short, they deliberately risked, and threw-away, the lives of aircrew. The Mk3 door was only fitted to the post VE-Day Lancs produced, as far as I know.

Panzerknacker, do you know if any of the Griffon Engines from the Argentinian Lincolns survived?
The reason I ask is that there is a Lincoln forward fuselage and mid-upper turret at MOTAT in Auckland, and they have long been seeking a Griffon engine to display alongside the other Lincoln relics. As far as I know, Australia also employed a few Lincolns post-war, perhaps RS* could find out something about those, as well.

Kind and Respectful Regards, Uyraell.

#15

Panzerknacker
you may be interested to know that despite the amount of lancasters made and operated in the UK the last flying one in Europe at the BBMF is complete due to getting the mid upper turret that it was doing air displays without, from Argentina in 1975.

I didnt knew that, Thanks.

Uyraell:

There is a surviving Lincoln in the National Aviation Museum of Buenos Aires, so there are 4 Griffons, No idea in wich condition because it was in the outdoors for several years.

#16

Thank you, Panzerknacker :slight_smile:

I’m betting the Lincoln itself represents only two or three of it’s type surviving worldwide.
I’d hope there are a couple of spare Griffons in addition to the 4 on the aircraft itself.
That said, the Griffons off an Avro Schackleton are comparable to the Griffons off an Lincoln.
As for Shackeltons, I don’t think there are more than 5 of those surviving intact worldwide either.

All in all, I’d doubt there are 20 Lancaster or derivative aircraft intact worldwide.
In this category I’d include Lancastrians (civilianised Lanc bombers used as airliners and cargo carriers), Yorks (Lanc mainplane, engines elevators, tailfins, and landing gear attached to a rectangular fuselage, usually employed as airliners), along with the Shackletons and Lincolns, and Manchesters.

Kind and Respectful Regards, Uyraell.

#17

Very cool pics!

#18

You may be interested in viewing this video.
http://www.vimeo.com/13430247
A tribute compiling original photos and video.

#19

very nice,… the graceful Lancs :slight_smile:

#20

Full set of nine finished now with corrections (I had to change all the files to jpg)

BI of the Argentine Air Force 1948.

BI of 9 Squadron Royal Egyptian Air Force 1950.

BI of 7 Squadron RAF 1944.

BI of 12 Squadron RAF 1942.

BI of 75 Squadron RAF 1944.

BI of 207 Squadron RAF 1942.

BI Special (Dambuster) of 617 Squadron RAF 1943.

BI Special (Dambuster) of 617 Squadron RAF 1943.

BI Special (Grand Slam) of 617 Squadron RAF 1945.