The Avro Lancaster was a British Second World War heavy bomber, key to winning the war in Europe against Nazi Germany. 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.
It was powered by 4 Rolls-Royce Merlin XX V-12 liquid-cooled piston engines, producing 1,280 hp (950 kW) each.
The Lancaster has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester which had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a medium bomber for "worldwide use" which could carry a torpedo internally, and make shallow dive-bombing attacks. Originally developed as an evolution of the Manchester (which had proved troublesome in service and was retired in 1942), the Lancaster was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one of the versions, Bristol Hercules engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the main aircraft for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed. As increasing numbers of the type were produced, it became the principal heavy bomber used by the RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within the RAF, overshadowing the Halifax and Stirling, two other commonly used bombers
A long, unobstructed bomb bay meant that the Lancaster could take the largest bombs used by the RAF, including the 4,000 lb (1,800 kg), 8,000 lb (3,600 kg), and 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) blockbusters, loads often supplemented with smaller bombs or incendiaries. The "Lanc", as it was known colloquially, became one of the most heavily used of the Second World War night bombers, "delivering 608,612 long tons (618,378,000 kg) of bombs in 156,000 sorties".The versatility of the Lancaster was such that it was chosen to equip the 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. Although the Lancaster was primarily a night bomber, it excelled in many other roles, including daylight precision bombing, for which some Lancasters were adapted to carry the 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) Tallboy and then the 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) Grand Slam earthquake bombs (also designed by Wallis). This was the largest payload of any bomber in the war.
General characteristics
Crew: 7: pilot, flight engineer, navigator, bomb aimer/nose gunner, wireless operator, mid-upper and rear gunners
Length: 69 ft 4 in (21.13 m)
Wingspan: 102 ft 0 in (31.09 m)
Height: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Wing area: 1,297 sq ft (120.5 m2)
Airfoil: root: NACA 23018; tip: NACA 23012
Empty weight: 36,900 lb (16,738 kg)
Gross weight: 55,000 lb (24,948 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 68,000 lb (30,844 kg)
Powerplant: 4 × Rolls-Royce Merlin XX V-12 liquid-cooled piston engines, 1,280 hp (950 kW) each
Propellers: 3-bladed
Performance
Maximum speed: 282 mph (454 km/h, 245 kn) at 63,000 lb (28,576 kg) and 13,000 ft (3,962 m) altitude
Cruise speed: 200 mph (320 km/h, 170 kn)
Range: 2,530 mi (4,070 km, 2,200 nmi)
Service ceiling: 21,400 ft (6,500 m) at 63,000 lb (29,000 kg)
Rate of climb: 720 ft/min (3.7 m/s) at 63,000 lb (29,000 kg) and 9,200 ft (2,800 m) altitude
Armament
Guns: Two 0.303-inch (7.7 mm) Browning Mark II machine guns in the nose turret, two 0.303-inch Browning Mark II machine guns in the upper turret, and four 0.303-inch Browning Mark II machine guns in the rear turret. (Early aircraft had two Brownings in a ventral turret aimed from within the aircraft via a periscope.)
Bombs: Maximum normal bomb load of 14,000 lb (6,400 kg) of bombs
Avionics
H2S radar in later variants
T1154 and R1155 radios
Gee
Monica
various other nav-aids and countermeasures
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