Lancaster B Mk VII NX611 Just Jane outside before a taxi run at East KirkbyAlan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK (CC BY SA), vía commons
History
The B.VII closed Lancaster production and was the most heavily armed of all. The Martin 250CE mid-upper turret sat slightly further forward than on earlier marks to preserve longitudinal balance, and the Nash & Thompson FN-82 tail turret with two .50 calibre Brownings replaced the FN-20 with its four .303s: far more punch from fewer barrels.
The Martin turrets arrived too late for the first fifty aircraft built by Austin, which became known as the Mark VII (Interim); a further one hundred and eighty true B.VIIs were then built at Longbridge. Two sub-variants existed: the B VII FE, tropicalised for the Far East, and the B VII "Western Union", delivered to France. Several stored aircraft of this mark were converted back to B.III (Special) configuration for the filming of The Dam Busters.
Multimedia
Lancaster Mk VII NX665 preserved at the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland
