Avro Lancaster MkI

This plane was a part of 106 Squadron, RAF


The Lancaster was one of the most important planes in WWII. But it was developed because of the failure of its immediate predecessor, the Manchester. The Manchester was a large twin engine aircraft which actually equipped 8 RAF Squadrons. But the unreliability of its engines and it poor performance saw it withdrawn from service by 1942.

Rather than scrap the Manchester's good design features, Avro determined to give the fuselage a longer span wing, and make it a four engine bomber using the reliable Rolls Royce Merlin engin. The resulting aircraft was an immediate success. It could carry a heavier bomb load than either the B-17 or B-24 - up to 12,000 lbs and later even 22,000lbs - and it handled well. Deliveries began in early 1942 and by April 1942, it was in action against the 3rd Reich. It was the mainstay of RAF Bomber Command from then until the end of the war/

Employed almost excusively at night, Lancasters had flown 156,000 missions and dropped 608,612 tons of bombs by the end of WWII. 
 
The MkI had Rolls Royce produced Merlin engines, while the MkIII had U.S. licensed produced Merlins made by Packard.
Many of the MkI's had windows along the fuselage, but by the time the MkIII went into production, these had been eliminated.

There were 7,377 Lancasters produced, mostly MkI and MkIII versions. Some 4,600 were lost in service.

I created the Lancaster at Moggy's request. 

Moggy was also a contributor to this model, having made the first cut at adding Merlin engines to the wing of the Halifax he had made earlier, intending to help another developer make a Lancaster. That project was still born, so I took on the project. Without a doubt, this has been the most extensive, time consuming, and often times frustrating 3DZ model I have done. And it was the down right hardest work I have ever encountered in making a new plane for EAW. 

I also did the skin camouflage for this plane. The nose art is all from actual Lancaster nose art. The model is non mirrored.

This model is not the flyable version. The flyable version will occupy the P-38 slot. This plane is for use in the B24 slot in Charles Gunst's ECAPanel which has a Lancaster flight model. 

There is a blank PCX provided in case you would like to try creating a new Squadron markings skin for a Lancaster - with my blessings.


Cheers,

Captain Kurt 

July 4th, 2002