The British Royal Air Force were the first to use four-engined bombers powered by Rolls Royce Merlin engines. The Lancaster bomber was used heavily in World War II, and participated in over 100 successful missions and 156,000 sorties. When the war was still going on, Avro's were already building the first of what eventually would be a range of civilian Lancaster variants for freight and passengers.

 

The Avro Lancaster was a delight to handle, which prompted test pilot Alex Henshaw to prove he could barrel roll the bomber during a test flight. The crowd and the engineers on the ground felt this feat was impossible but Alex, firmly strapped in the Lancaster's cockpit, rolled the big bird above their stunned faces. The slow speed did not take away any of the Lancaster's manoeuvrability, so Avro had in their fleet a bomber that could travel a very low speed and be extremely precise when delivering attacks. It was the perfect combination.

 

During its 3 main years of use, the Lancaster bomber dropped a load of 608,612 tons of bombs over Europe. Being the only plane that could carry larger packages due to its longer bomb bay, the Lancaster quickly became the first choice for many of the bigger missions delivering the biggest and heaviest bombs at the time.

 

Roy Chadwick, the father and designer of Avro's fleet, is most recognized for creating the Lancaster bomber. In 1947, during a test flight for a prototype he had just conceived, Roy Chadwick crashed on take-off, due to aileron cables that had been crossed - he did not survive the crash. Today there are only about 16, more or less complete, Avro Lancasters in the world, of which only two are are certified for actual flight... to soar the skies again, and perhaps do a barrel roll while dropping a 16,000 pound bomb!