Avro Lancaster: from bomber to popular model

 
In 1942, halfway the Second World War, the British Royal Air Force commissioned their first Avro Lancaster night bombers (chief designer Roy Chadwick) in RAF Squadron 44. This new warplane with four engines, twin tail fins and a metal fuselage was primarily a night bomber, but it was just as good doing precision bombing during the daylight hours. The Lancaster became especially famous after the 1943 mission called Operation Chastise (also known as the Dam Busters), which was to destroy the important dams in the Ruhr Valley in Germany. This mission was flown by Squadron 617, using specially made bombs in the shape of a drum: the famous bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. The Lancasters became also famous for sinking the German battleship Tirpitz, and during much more peaceful missions they also dropped food into Holland to feed people that were on the verge of starvation. A versatile aeroplane, about which Sir Arthur Harris (Bomber Command) stated that “the Lancaster was the greatest single factor in winning the war”.
 

After many changes had been made to the original Lancaster, there were 7,377 built throughout the rest of the war. Its maximum speed was 240 knots or 280 mph at 15,000 ft., with four Rolls Royce Merlin XX V12 engines, a total of 1280 horsepower. The wingspan was 102 feet overall length, and from top to bottom the height was 19 feet and 7 inches. Its overall total length was 69ft and 5 inches, with three turrets that housed eight 303 in Browning machine guns, and a maximum bomb capacity of 22,000 pounds. Its crew consisted of 7 people; from the front to the back were the bomb aimer, who also manned a turret gun, the flight engineer, the pilot, a navigator, the wireless radio operator, a mid upper gunner turret, and a rear gunner. The most amazing feature was what it had been manufactured for, the large bomb bay which was 33 feet long. This made the Lancaster available to carry the largest and heaviest bombs that were made. Between 1942 and 1945 the Avro Lancasters flew 156,000 missions and had dropped 608,612 tons of bombs.
 
Avro Lancaster bomber models rank among the most famous plastic models that an aviation hobbyist can acquire, with the Dambuster being the most sought after. These plastic model kits have every Avro Lancaster modeled after each one of the original versions. The kits allow you to paint and decal every model, and some models have moving turrets as well as moving props. It has even made its way into diecast models. It was such a popular bomber that it is used on stamps to honor it and its crews. Children and adults alike can obtain a Lancaster Bomber radio controlled model. There are also several very good oil paintings of the Avro Lancaster Bomber that can be found on EBay.  

Since the end of World War II, there are only 17 Avro Lancaster bombers left, and out of the 17 in the world only 2 of those are still airworthy.


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