inside a lancaster bomber

He argued that this would reduce the loss rate by increasing the Lancaster's cruising speed by up to 50mph (80km/h) (assuming the bomb load was not increased), making the bomber harder to intercept. Starting with the design of the aircraft by Roy Chadwick, you will be guided through the bomber's illustrious history, from the celebrated Dams Raid to the controversy of 'area bombing' under Bomber Harris. Modifications involved the installation of radar and sonobuoy operators' positions, removal of the rear and mid-upper gun turrets, installation of a 400-gallon fuel tank in the bomb bay to increase the patrol range, upgraded electronics, radar, and instrumentation, and a cooking stove in the centre section. 94,468. Many Lancaster crew members were highly decorated for their actions while flying the aircraft. [64], A major improvement to night-time bombing came with the implementation of the Pathfinder Force (PFF) in August 1942, multiple squadrons were transferred from Bomber Command groups to constitute the new unit. On 12 June, the first use of the type by RAF Coastal Command, having loaned aircraft from RAF Bomber Command, commenced; it was used to conduct long range anti-U-boat operations, reportedly attacking two on 15 June. Mod 913, Avro Manufacturing Drawing Z2511, Mod 925, shown on Avro Manufacturing Drawing X815. [citation needed], The Lancaster was also produced overseas. Squadron's and Units Equipped With Lancaster's. Tiger Force Lancaster Squadrons. Further missions across the country were flown throughout this month, often focusing on electrical and railway infrastructure. ", "A History of Navigation in the Royal Air Force", "ROYAL AIR FORCE BOMBER COMMAND, 19421945. The crew was made up of seven men. The first combat use of Barnes Wallis' 12,000lb (5,400kg) 'Tallboy' bombs occurred around this time. She had a top speed of 287mph, carried a crew of seven and could drop up to 22,000lb of bombs. Squadron and Units. This significantly reduced operational losses; and gun-laying radar was added to the last versions of the turret. })(120000); 6 x 2,000lb (910kg) short-delay fused AP bombs, plus other GP/HE bombs based on local needs or availability. [101], During July, in the days following the Normandy landings, Lancasters heavily bombed the city of Caen repeatedly. [8][9] Further requirements of the specification included the use of a mid-mounted cantilever monoplane wing, and all-metal construction while the use of the Rolls-Royce Vulture, which was in development was encouraged. [12][10] Avro's aircraft, named the Manchester, entered RAF service in November 1940. In total 364,514 bomber command operational sorties were flown, 1,030,500 tons of bombs were dropped and 8,325 aircraft lost in action. The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber.It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same wartime era. fter their , David Fairhead and Ant Palmer return with a wartime history of the Lancaster bomber. [20] In total, 3,030 B.IIIs were constructed, almost all of them at Avro's Newton Heath factory. The original tail turret was equipped with four Browning .303 Mark II machine guns and all other turrets with two such machine guns.[35][36][37]. [citation needed], From 1943 to 1947, the Canadian Government Trans-Atlantic Air Service (CGTAS) provided a trans-Atlantic military passenger and postal delivery service using a modified long-distance transport version of the Lancaster Mark X. Interestingly, its success was born from the failure of the Avro Manchester bomber - a twin-engined heavy bomber first flown in July of 1939 and adopted in November of 1940. Multiple raids on V-1 launch sites and enemy shipping were also performed during August; the partially constructed battleship Clemenceau was one of the targets that were struck around this time. [4] The versatility of the Lancaster was such that it was chosen to equip 617 Squadron and was modified to carry the Upkeep "bouncing bomb" designed by Barnes Wallis for Operation Chastise, the attack on German Ruhr valley dams. As well as direct hits on very strong or durable targets (such as submarine pens) it could be used indirectly to create a. [13][14] As a result, only 200 were constructed and the type was withdrawn from service in 1942. Cath Clarke. This unit was equipped with B.III (Specials), officially designated the "Type 464 (Provisioning)", modified to carry the 9,250lb (4,200kg) "Upkeep" bouncing bomb. 83 Squadron RAF, leads the queue of aircraft waiting to take off from Scampton, Lincolnshire, on the 'Thousand-Bomber' raid to Bremen, Nazi Germany. The flight engineer sat on a collapsible seat (known as a "second dicky seat") to the pilot's right, with the fuel selectors and gauges on a panel behind him and to his right. [118] The last Lancaster in active service with the RAF, a reconnaissance aircraft, is believed to have been retired in late 1954. }, The sound of the 4 Merlins alone has a profound effect on any one who is the least bit . The Lancas. [76], On 15 April, Stuttgart was raided by a large force of Lancasters; on the following day, Plze was similarly struck, although much of the intended attack upon the koda Works was unintentionally directed towards a large asylum instead; other targets that month included Stettin, Duisburg, and the Ruhr. 44 Sqn; a planned mission against the German battleshipTirpitz had been rescheduled due to poor weather conditions. This carries a high-velocity Flare that is dropped at the same time as the Bombs to Photograph and record the Bomb Strike. Some Interesting Facts - Random interesting facts from the World. When the plane was first built as a bomber, it was designed to have seven crew members . The tail gunner escaped by rotating his turret to the rear, opening the door in the back of the turret, passing into the fuselage, and clipping on a parachute that was hung on the side wall. During World War II the Lancaster was the most successful bomber used by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force.The Lanc had speed, ceiling, and lifting power that no other aircraft of the day could match. Of the 17 surviving and largely intact Lancasters known to exist, two are airworthy; one, PA474, based at Coningsby (in Lincolnshire, UK), is operated by The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and the other, named Vera (coded VR-A, FM213), is in Canada, operated by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope, a suburb of Hamilton, Ontario. In some later variants of the Lancaster the twin 7.7mm machine guns were replaced with 12.7mm models, which delivered more power. Initial attacks targeted the Mohne Dam until it was breached, then moved on to the Eder Dam, and then the Sorpe Dam and Ennepe Dam. Bomb Run Times. The Lancaster in combat carried sevencrew and during WWIIthe oldest crew member, probably the pilot, would have been 21. [22] A total of 50 Austin-built Lancaster B.Is was constructed to a non-standard configuration, having a Frazer Nash turret installed directly above the bomb bay; however, this modification was largely unpopular due to its obstruction of the internal walkway, hindering crew movements. [28], The Lancaster benefited from a structure that possessed considerable strength and durability, which had been intentionally designed to maximise structural strength-per-weight; this resulted in the Lancaster being capable of withstanding some levels of damage resulting from attacks by hostile interceptor aircraft and ground-based anti-aircraft batteries. In March 1946, a Lancastrian of BSAA flew the first scheduled flight from the new London Heathrow Airport. ); Bomb Loads. 2010 August 08: Interior walk-thru of the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster bomber, VR-A # KB726 of the Royal Canadian Air Force 419 "Moose" Squadron.The Lancaster. Later on, these two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster; these saw use during the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. The plane was powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlin XXV12 liquid-cooled piston engines that drive three-bladed propeller units. [10] Twin-engine designs were submitted by Fairey, Boulton Paul, Handley Page and Shorts, using Rolls-Royce Vulture, Napier Sabre, Fairey P.24 or Bristol Hercules engines. By the end of the war, these aircraft had completed hundreds of trips across the Atlantic. Postwar, the Lancaster was supplanted as the main strategic bomber of the RAF by the Avro Lincoln, a larger version of the Lancaster. At the extreme tail-end of the fuselage, the rear gunner sat in his exposed position in the tail turret, which was entered through a small hatch in the rear of the fuselage. [69], In late October 1942, the first Lancaster bombing missions over Italy were performed; on 22 and 23, the cities of Genoa and Turin were struck at night-time. That made for horrendous motion sickness on landing. Time limit is exhausted. Saying all this, I had the honour and privilege of being allowed close up and personal with a Lancaster today, as well as being allowed inside that very same aircraft. 1 x 4,000lb (1,800kg) impact fused HC and up to 18 x 500lb (230kg) GP bombs, with both impact and delay fusing. }, (function( timeout ) { [116], RAF Lancasters dropped food into the Holland region of the occupied Netherlands, with the acquiescence of the occupying German forces, to feed people who were in danger of starvation. High calibre While 7.7mm machine guns were standard on Lancaster bombers, selective later variants were fitted with twin 12.7mm turrets in both tail and dorsal positions. [32], The standard crew for a Lancaster consisted of seven men, stationed in various positions in the fuselage. [25], Early production Lancaster B.Is were outfitted with a ventral gun turret position. Some Lancaster B.I bombers were outfitted with bulged bomb bay doors in order to accommodate increased armament payloads. The panorama was created way back in 2004 whilst Pan 3Sixty was creating a 360 virtual tour of the American Air Museum at Imperial War Museum Duxford. Only the FN-5A[35] nose turret which was similar to the FN-5 used on the preceding Avro Manchester, the Vickers Wellington and the Short Stirling remained unchanged during the life of the design, except in instances where it was removed entirely. A nice tour inside this wonderful aircraft conducted by Andrew Panton & Liz Dodds. [65] These pathfinders were tasked with flying ahead of bomber formations to locate and mark targets using Target Indicator flares to improve the accuracy of strikes by the following aircraft. [citation needed], An important feature of the Lancaster was its unobstructed 33ft (10m) long bomb bay. It was 38 years later that I realised a long-held dream and boarded a Lancaster bomber. Now on display at RAF Hendon, she flew in 137 Second World War raids more than any other aircraft. Video first published in April 2017. The unit would earn . With its encyclopedic detail and commanding narration by Charles Dance, this feels . [16] Initially, the improved aircraft was designated as the Type 683 Manchester III but was subsequently renamed the Lancaster. 1 x 12,000lb (5,400kg) short-delay fused "Tallboy" bomb. Various other turret configurations were adopted by individual squadrons, which included the removal of various combinations of turrets. [106][107] Executed by Nos. In total, the Lancaster has a 33-foot-long Bombay and was capable of carrying a 14,000 bomb load at a speed of 200 miles per hour. [102] On 24 August, eight Tallboys were dropped in a daylight attack on the U-boat pens at IJmuiden, two direct hits were recorded. The Avro Lancaster Bomber is one of the most famous heavy bombers of the Second World War. Flight history for aircraft - PA474. This icon of the RAF Bomber Command was one of the most important aircraft of World War. It was installed in a small number of Lancasters but never became common. Other developments included the York, a transport with a much larger square section fuselage, and via the Lincoln, the Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft which continued in RAF service in that role until replaced by the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod in the early 1970s, but saw further service as an airborne early warning (AEW) system until finally retired in 1991. 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