Avro Lancaster
Avro · United Kingdom · first flew 1941 · bomber
The Avro Lancaster was the RAF's pre-eminent four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War, prized for its enormous bomb load and steady handling.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 4 × piston, wing-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 21.18 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Twin fin |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Four Merlin engines on a broad tapered wing
- Twin oval fins on the tailplane, no central fin
- Long greenhouse canopy and prominent ventral bomb bay
Look for the four in-line engine nacelles spread across a long, gently tapered wing and the distinctive twin oval tailfins with no central fin. The deep slab-sided fuselage, extensive glazed canopy and the dorsal and tail gun turrets complete the unmistakable wartime silhouette.
Specifications
- The Avro Lancaster has a length of 21.18 m (69 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 31.09 m (102 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 450 km/h (280 mph).
- Typical crew: 7.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Developed from the troubled twin-engined Avro Manchester, the Lancaster first flew in January 1941 with four reliable Rolls-Royce Merlins in place of the Manchester's failing Vultures. The redesign was an immediate success and over 7,300 were built, entering operational service in early 1942. It went on to drop the lion's share of Bomber Command's tonnage over occupied Europe.
Variants
The principal mark was the Merlin-powered B Mk I, with the Mk III differing only in its Packard-built American Merlins. The Bristol Hercules radial-engined Mk II was produced as insurance against Merlin shortages, while specialist conversions carried the Tallboy and Grand Slam earthquake bombs and the famous bouncing 'Upkeep' mines of No. 617 Squadron.
Where you'll see it
Today Europe's only airworthy Lancaster, PA474 of the BBMF (a second, FM213, flies with Canadian Warplane Heritage), flies with the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, a familiar and moving sight over British air shows and remembrance events. Its low passes, often in company with Spitfires and Hurricanes, remain one of the most evocative sounds in UK skies.
In depth
The Lancaster's lineage from the failed Manchester is one of aviation's tidiest redemption stories. The twin-engined Avro Manchester used the Rolls-Royce Vulture — a twenty-four-cylinder X-configuration engine that proved catastrophically unreliable in service. Squadron commanders were writing to Bomber Command by 1941 pleading for the type's withdrawal. Avro's chief designer Roy Chadwick had already anticipated the problem: in 1940 he sketched a four-engine conversion using four standard Merlins on an extended wing. The prototype, BT308, was a Manchester III airframe re-winged and re-engined, and it flew on 9 January 1941. The transition from failed aircraft to celebrated bomber took less than twelve months.
The Lancaster's bomb bay is its most strategically important feature: a continuous 33-foot cavity running the full length of the fuselage centre section, interrupted by no internal frame, capable of accepting loads that no other Allied bomber could carry. The 22,000 lb Grand Slam earthquake bomb, designed by Barnes Wallis and used operationally from March 1945, required special modifications including removal of the bomb bay doors and the mid-upper turret to accommodate the weapon. Only Lancasters could lift it, and only modified Lancasters at that. The standard bomb load of a 4,000 lb 'Cookie' blast bomb combined with incendiaries became the template for area attacks on German cities.
No. 617 Squadron's 16 May 1943 Dams Raid represents the type's most technically complex operation. Each modified Lancaster (known as a Type 464 Provisioning aircraft, with altered bomb gear and no mid-upper turret) carried a single 'Upkeep' mine, a cylindrical drum spun to 500 rpm by a motor inside the aircraft before release. Dropped at 60 feet altitude and 232 mph at a precise angle to the dam wall, Upkeep skipped along the water surface, sank against the dam face and detonated at 30 feet depth. The Möhne and Eder dams were breached; the Sorpe was not. Of 19 Lancasters dispatched, 8 did not return — a 42 percent loss rate in a single night.
Late-war development included the long-range Mk VII 'Tiger Force' aircraft modified for the Pacific theatre with saddle tanks in the bomb bay for extended range to attack Japan, a deployment overtaken by the Japanese surrender. The Lincoln, the Lancaster's successor, retained so much DNA that its designers described it as a 'stretched and improved Lancaster' rather than an independent design.
A total of 7,377 Lancasters were built. Two airworthy examples survive. PA474 of the BBMF has been continuously maintained and flown since 1967, currently in 100 Squadron markings representing a Middle East veteran aircraft. In Canada, FM213 of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum at Hamilton, Ontario, flies in No. 419 Squadron markings. Static and partial survivors number approximately 17 worldwide, including the nose section of S-Sugar (W4783) at the RAF Museum Hendon, with 137 operational missions recorded on its nose — the highest tally of any surviving Lancaster airframe. The Nanton Lancaster Society in Alberta, Canada, maintains a complete static example with all four Merlins capable of being run. Lincoln, the city most closely associated with Bomber Command operations, holds the International Bomber Command Centre, with a Lancaster airframe under restoration as its centrepiece exhibit.
Related aircraft
- Avro Lancaster B.I
- Avro Lancaster B.III
- Avro York
- Avro Manchester
- Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress
- Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Woomera
- Consolidated TBY Sea Wolf
- de Havilland Mosquito B Mk IV
Compared head-to-head
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