F L I G H T C R E W
Port Engines
The Avro Lancaster has its origins in the shortcomings of its predecessor, the Avro Manchester. The Manchester was a heavy bomber designed to UK Air Ministry Specification P.13/36, and was to use two of the new 24-cylinder Rolls Royce Vulture engines. These engines used an "X" layout, rather than the "V" of most 12-cylinder engines, but had severe reliability problems. As a result, only about 200 were built.
Roy Chadwick, Avro's chief designer, responded to the problem, replacing the Vultures with four of the less-powerful Merlin engines, and increasing the wing area. The modification was a success from the start, the change to the bomber's performance being so large that the its name was changed, from Manchester Mark III to Lancaster Mark I.
On display at the RAAF Association Aviation Heritage Museum, Bull Creek, Perth, WA.
Port Engines
The Avro Lancaster has its origins in the shortcomings of its predecessor, the Avro Manchester. The Manchester was a heavy bomber designed to UK Air Ministry Specification P.13/36, and was to use two of the new 24-cylinder Rolls Royce Vulture engines. These engines used an "X" layout, rather than the "V" of most 12-cylinder engines, but had severe reliability problems. As a result, only about 200 were built.
Roy Chadwick, Avro's chief designer, responded to the problem, replacing the Vultures with four of the less-powerful Merlin engines, and increasing the wing area. The modification was a success from the start, the change to the bomber's performance being so large that the its name was changed, from Manchester Mark III to Lancaster Mark I.
On display at the RAAF Association Aviation Heritage Museum, Bull Creek, Perth, WA.