Brief HistoryGreat Britain’s world-famous bomber. The Avro Lancaster was a product of A.V.Roe Ltd., whose design team was lead by Roy Chadwick. It had been developed from the earlier Manchester, the engines of which had given great cause for concern since its service introduction and led to early withdrawal from the ranks of RAF. The redesign included an extension of the wingspan to the allowable maximum of 102 feet plus the installation of four Rolls-Royce Merlins instead of the previous Vultures. The first prototype made its maiden flight, complete with triple fins, on 9 January 1941. After the initial flight-testing, some alterations were made to the airframe, the greatest of which were the twin tailfins plus the installation of ventral and dorsal gun turrets. The first Avro Lancaster combat mission came on 2 March 1942, and the first bombing raid, on Essen, fallowed eight days later. The Lancaster I, fitted successively with Merlin XX, 22 or 24 engines, remained the only version in service throughout 1942 and entirely 1943, and eventual total of three thousand four hundred and forty Mk Is were completed by Avro, Armstrong Whitworth, Austin Motors, Metropolitan-Vickers and Vickers-Armstrongs. Avro completed two prototypes for the Lancaster II, powered by 1,725 hp Bristol Hercules radial engines as a safeguard against possible supply shortage of Merlins. In the event no such shortage arose, but three hundred production Lancaster IIs were built by Armstrong Whitworth. The other principal version, the Lancaster III, was powered by Packard-built Merlin 28, 38 or 224 engines; apart from a modified bomb-aimer’s window, this exhibited few other differences form the Mk I. […] Source: Avro Lancaster History, Specifications & Drawings | Scale Model Aircraft Universe
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