'' Lancaster ASR.III with Lifeboat ''

The Avro Lancaster was a four-engined heavy bomber of the Royal air Force. In 1936, the RAF was authorized to develop two new types of bomber, with one to be a four-engined heavy bomber, and the other, a twin-engined type (project B.12/36) was awarded to be Short compagny, and the resulting aircraft was the Stirling. Project P.13/36 for the twin-engined type, was given to the Avro and Handley Page compagnies. The Avro prototype known as Type 679 ,was powered by newly-designed Rolls-Royce Vulture 24-cylinder X-type engines. Known as the Manchester in its productions configuration, the type was issued to line squadrons beginning in 1940. The Manchester was used for only about a year and a half of disappointing line service, during wich it was plagued with engine and propeller problems. But Avro engineers made one more to save the design by upgrading the engine configurations to four of the more powerful Rolls Royce Merlin X type powerplants. At the first known as the Manchester III, the later was to go on to aviation glory as the Lancaster. The prototype made its maiden flight in 1941 to instant acclaim. The second prototype made its maiden om May 13 ,1941, with results good enough to convince the RAF to go with the Lancaster configuration as the maas production model. The first production Lancaster I aircraft were powered by Merlin XX-type engines, but these were upgraded to Merlin 22, then Merlin 24 in subsequent production runs. Foreseeing holdups in available Merlin enigines in upcoming production runs. Avro designers developed a Lancaster II model powered by Bristol Herucles 18 cylinder radial engines. However, America`s entry into the war meant a huge new course of Merlins through licensed production by the Packard compagny, so the Lancaster II design was shelved, with total production of the type reching only 300 aircraft. aircraft powered by the Packard Merlins were given the designation Lancaster III. Originally fitted with both ventral and dorsal defensive gun turrets, the ventral turret was dropped from later Lancaster to reduce weight and wind resistance. The final defensive arament layout was three Fraser-Nash hydraulically powered turrets armed with 7.7mm Browning machine guns, with one turret each in the nose, upper mid fuselage and tail. The Lancaster featured an enormous 10.05m long bomb bay, making the aircraft capable of carring what was at the time the World`s largest bomb, the 22.000lb (10t) Grand slam.

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