Avro Lancaster, the legendary bomber that changed history
Video from the channel Canal Jambock about Avro Lancaster, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 10:47. Language: Portuguese. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
An overview of the history of the Avro Lancaster, from its origin in the unsuccessful Avro Manchester to its retirement, covering its technical specifications, its variants and its best-known missions.
Historical context
The Manchester answered specification P.13/36 of 1936, which called for a heavy twin-engined bomber with Rolls-Royce Vulture engines. It flew on 25 July 1939, but the engines' poor performance and low reliability led to its withdrawal in June 1942. On its airframe a larger bomber with four Merlins was developed. The prototype BT308 flew in 1941, still under the name Manchester III, and the Manchesters already on the production line were finished as Lancasters. Deliveries began in early 1942 to 44 Squadron at Waddington. On 17 April 1942, 44 and 97 Squadrons attacked the MAN factory in Augsburg by day.
Key facts
The video gives a wingspan of 31 m, a length of 21 m, an empty weight of 16,705 kg and a maximum weight of 30,800 kg, with a top speed of 462 km/h at 3,500 m. 7,377 were built, 430 of them in Canada by Victory Aircraft, plus a batch of 300 Mk II with Bristol Hercules radial engines. There were variants for heavy bombs and the 617 Squadron variant for the Wallis bomb. It cites 156,000 sorties and 605,000 tonnes of bombs, the destruction of the Bielefeld viaduct in 1945, the bombing of Dresden and the retirement of the RAF's last Mk VII in February 1954.