British Bombers and Transport aircrafts

The H.P. 54 Harrow was the production version of the earlier Handley Page H.P.51 design, itself a monoplane conversion of the three-engined Handley Page H.P.43 biplane. The two monoplanes were both designed by Dr. G.V. Lachmann. Initially Handley Page intended to offer the H.P.51 to Air Ministry specification C.26/31 for a bomber-transport, then saw the H.P.54 as a more likely winner. In the end neither type was a candidate for C.26/31, since in June 1935 the Air Ministry, anxious to expand and modernise the RAF wrote specification B.29/35 around the Harrow, emphasising its bomber role though retaining its transport capability. In August, 14 months before the first Harrow flew, the Ministry put in an order for 100 aircraft. Powered by Bristol Pegasus X engines of 830 hp (620 kW), the first Harrow flew on 10 October 1936 from Radlett. The Harrow was designed to have powered nose, dorsal and tail turrets, and carried a bomb load of 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) under the cabin floor.

The first Harrow was delivered to No. 214 Squadron RAF on 13 January 1937, with all 100 delivered by the end of the year, with five bomber squadrons of the RAF being equipped with the Harrow. The Fleet Air Arm ordered 100 Harrows but Handley Page lacked the production capacity to supply them. Despite being fitted with cabin heating by steam boilers using exhaust heat, the Harrow gained a reputation of being a cold and draughty aircraft owing to the turret design. As the delivery of more modern bombers increased, the Harrow was phased out as a front-line bomber by the end of 1939, but continued to be used as a transport. 271 Squadron was formed on 1 May 1940 with a mixture of Harrows, Bristol Bombays and impressed civil aircraft. While the other aircraft equipping 271 squadron were replaced by Douglas Dakotas, it retained a flight of Harrows (sometimes nicknamed "Sparrows" due to their new nose fairings to give a more streamlined fuselage) as transports and ambulance aircraft until the end of the Second World War in Europe.

The Bristol Buckingham was originally designed as a replacement for the earlier Bristol Blenheim. It was one of many British aircraft projects delayed by a unfortunate choice of engines (in this case the Bristol companies own Centaurus radial engine) but the main problem for the Buckingham was that by the time it was ready for service the de Havilland Mosquito was already doing the same job.

The Buckingham could carry a 4,000lb bomb load at a maximum speed of 330mph and had a maximum range of 3,180 miles. The bomber version was heavily armed for a light bomber, with four .303in machine guns firing forward, four more in a ventral turret and two more in a ventral cupola, firing into the vulnerable position behind and below the aircraft. Changes to the design and problems with the Centaurus engine delayed the first flight of the Buckingham prototype to 4 February 1943, and the first flight of a production aircraft to 12 February 1944. By then the Mosquito B.Mk XVI had been in service for two months, and was capable of carrying the same 4,000lb bomb load at least as far as Berlin, and at 408mph.

Production of the Buckingham continued because of its longer range, seen as potentially valuable in the Far East. Fifty four were completed as bombers out of an original order of 400. Another 65 were completed as a fast transport aircraft, but the Buckingham was really too small for this job, and could only carry four passengers. In the post-war period the RAF had hundreds of aircraft better suited to the transport role, and the Buckingham was soon phased out. More successful were the 110 Buckinghams that were completed as Bristol Buckmaster advanced trainers, and the closely related Bristol Brigand, designed as a torpedo bomber.

The Bristol Brigand was designed as a replacement for the Bristol Beaufighter in its role as a torpedo-bomber. The Beaufighter had been a success in that role, but did have some flaws in the role, not having been designed for it. The Brigand was based on the Bristol Buckingham, a proposed light bomber that failed to see service in its original role, having been made obsolete by the Mosquito. The Brigand too would fail to see service in its intended role, but would find a new role as a ground attack aircraft.

The first Brigand prototype was ordered in April 1943. The new aircraft shared much of its design with the Buckingham, particularly the wings and tail plane. The most obvious difference was the high cockpit, with the three crew members sitting in line under a single canopy. The first prototype flew on 4 December 1944, at which point it was still possible that the aircraft might have been needed in the Far East, but the Japanese surrender left the original Brigand TF.Mk 1 was no longer needed.

The type survived as a light bomber. The B.Mk 1 was very similar to the TF.Mk 1, but with the torpedo carrying capability removed. It entered service in 1949 and saw active service during the Malaya emergency. A number of other variants were also produced, most important of which were the T Mk 4 and T Mk 5, used to train RAF radar operators until finally retired in 1958.

Excellent, I've gained a lot more respect for the Wellington (the Popeye reference would make a great trivia question.)

Under the cover of darkness, on May 17,1943, 19 Lancaster heavy bombers of Royal Air Force Bomber Command flew over the coast of occupied Europe on a most secret mission. The crews had been specially trained and the aircraft specially prepared to carry barrel shaped bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. As the targets loomed closer, the designated aircraft initiated their attack runs at very low altitude. The first Lancaster released its bomb, followed by the other aircraft in its group, and as each pulled away the crew could see the bomb bouncing along the surface of the lake towards its concrete target, striking it and finally sinking and exploding. Back at base the news broke - Lancasters of 617 Squadron had breached the Moehne, Eder and Sorpe dams in northwest Germany and had caused major flooding of the vital Ruhr Valley industrial area. The floods had drowned some 1,200 German workers and had cost the RAF eight Lancaster bombers and their crews. This spectacular venture, and the sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord in 1944, are the best known of all the exploits of the Lancaster, yet it was as the ceaseless nighttime destroyer of German industrial centers and cities that it did most to bring the war to a close.

The Lancaster bomber holds a special place of affection mingled with a great deal of pride in the hearts of British and Commonwealth citizens--feelings which perhaps find their parallel in the hearts of Americans toward the B-17 Flying Fortress. Just as the Spitfire epitomized the Commonwealth's supreme spirit of defiance in the face of seemingly irresistible defeat, so the evening sight and sound of streams of Lancasters "heading out" toward the heartland of the German Reich was the ultimate translation of a war weary people's will to see the Nazi military and industrial machine--the source of colossal suffering for so much of the world--battered into oblivion.

The Lancaster flew for the first time on January 9,1941 as a four-engined development of the Avro Manchester. The RAF began to equip with Mk Is in early 1942 and used them first on March 10th against targets in Essen. Altogether, more than 7,300 Lancasters were produced in Britain as Mks I to VII and Canada as Mk Xs, and they dropped more than 608,000 tons of bombs on 156,000 wartime missions. Some Lancasters were still flying with the RAF in the early 1950s as maritime-reconnaissance, photo-reconnaissance and rescue aircraft.

Like all successful aircraft the Lancaster not only looked good but its flying characteristics matched its appearance. It is all the more ironic therefore that the birth of Avro's mighty machine owed so much to failure, the failure of its immediate predecessor, the twin engine Avro Manchester. The Avro 683 evolved almost accidentally as a result of recurrent failure of the insufficiently developed Rolls Royce Vulture engines installed in the Manchester.

In May 1936 Group Captain R.D. Oxland, Director of the Air Ministry's Operational Requirements, issued specification P.13136 for a twin engine bomber capable of carrying internally a 12,000 lb maximum bomb load, or a single 8,000 lb bomb, or a pair of torpedoes. Two firms were invited to build prototypes of their design submissions, Handley Page their HP 56 and the Avro 679, in the event the HP 56 was rejected because of a projected shortage of Rolls-Royce engines. Within weeks of Avro receiving a prototype order a production order was placed for 200 machines to the new Specification 19137.

Large when compared with other twin engine aircraft the P.13136 was actually powered by four Rolls-Royce engines. Under the designation Vulture, Rolls-Royce had mated a pair of V 12 cylinder Kestrel engines with a common crankcase creating a 24 cylinder V engine and a lot of trouble. On 25 July 1939 the prototype, L7246, was flown for the first time with Group Captain H.A. Brown at the controls. While only airborne for 17 minutes It was long enough to realize that the Vulture engines were turning out much less power than anticipated and wing loading made the aircraft extremely difficult to fly.

To correct lateral instability a central fin was added to the second prototype, L7247, which flew for the first time on May 26,1940. The second machine was armed with six .303 Browning machine guns, two in the nose, ventral and tail turrets. Production quickly followed with the first production machine, L7276, rolling out on August 5,1940 during the height of the Battle of Britain. Production machines had a wing span increase and the ventral turret was removed to the dorsal position. The need for additional modifications and the urgency of manufacturing fighters slowed down production of the P.13136, which was now known as the Manchester. L7277, the second production machine, was not delivered until October 25,1940.

Good stuff!

This second production machine was delivered to No. 207 Squadron at Waddington under the command of Wing Commander Hyde, which had been reformed to work up the still secret Manchester. By the end of the year No. 207 Squadron had received some twenty machines. On January 9,1941 the existence of the Manchester was revealed to the full RAF and on February 24 six Manchesters were part of the attacking force raiding Brest where a Hipper class cruiser was reported. All machines returned safely but L7284 crash landed at Waddington when the hydraulic system failed. Trouble with the hydraulic system persisted, but was eventually traced to an oil leak which fouled the undercarriage micro switches and was corrected.

Problems with the Vulture power plants were not so easily solved however, and No. 207 Squadron seldom had more than five machines serviceable at one time. On the night of March 13,1941 the first Manchester was lost to enemy action when L7319 was shot down shortly after takeoff from Waddington by Feld W. Hans Hahn of I/NJG 2. Most of the Manchester's mechanical problems by now had been solved and a second assembly line, at Metropolitan Vickers, began turning out machines and new Squadrons were being assembled. The basic problem with the Manchester, that of being underpowered, was still to be addressed. With a service ceiling of only 10,000 feet the loss of one engine resulted In an almost immediate loss of height. This poor performance of the Manchester caused one squadron to (only half-jokingly) plan their squadron reunion in POW camp.

In April all Manchesters were grounded when faults were found in the Vulture engine bearings. On June 16 the Manchesters were again grounded to modify the cooling system and again on June 30 for complete engine overhauls and testing, the results of which were a further series of modifications. On August 7 operations were resumed at which time two further faults showed up. The tail flutter, which was eventually corrected by redesigning the tail to an enlarged twin fin configuration under the designation Manchester IA, and the propeller feathering problem which was not so easily traced. Engine problems seemed to increase rather than abate and casualties grew.

During initial trials of the Manchester prototype it had been quickly realized that the 24 cylinder Vultures were not turning out the anticipated power. Two projects were initiated to correct the situation, replacement of the Vultures with a pair of Napier Sabre or Bristol Centaurus engines keeping the twin engine configuration under the designation Manchester Mk II, or by reconfiguring the aircraft to a four engine machine under the designation Manchester Mk III. The four engine solution was completed first and so successfully that the twin engine projects were dropped out of hand.

Owing to delays in the full development of the Vulture engine, the decision was taken in mid l940 to design a new version of the Manchester with four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. The first conversion made use of about 75 per cent of the Manchester's parts and assemblies, the principal change being the provision of a new center section of the wing with mountings for Merlin engines. This aircraft became the first prototype of the Lancaster. A second prototype fitted with Merlins and significantly modified in detail was designed, built and flown in just eight months. The first production Lancaster I flew just over five months later, its power plant comprising similar 954 Kw (1,280 hp) Rolls-Royce Merlin XX Vee, liquid-cooled engines, each driving a three-blade constant-speed and fully feathering propeller. Because of the possibility of some interruption in Merlin production, the Lancaster II was built with 1,229.5 Kw (1,650 hp) Bristol Hercules VI radial engines. These fears did not materialize, with the result that only 300 Lancaster IIs were built.

BT308, a standard Manchester airframe, was fitted with a new wing center section into which were installed four of the very reliable Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines. Flying for the first time on January 9,1941, that flight was enough to convince Roy Dobson and his designers that true success had been achieved.

The doubling from two to four motors meant an increase in the Manchester's maximum bomb load, from 10,350 lbs to an operational average of 12,000/14,000 lbs. Fuel capacity was increased from 1,700 to 2,154 gallons and range increased from 1200 miles to 2350 miles. Bomber Command now had a bomber that could penetrate deep into Nazi occupied Europe with a much larger bomb load and reasonably expect to evade or fight off all that the enemy could provide in defensive measures--and at an altitude more than double the Manchester's meager 10,000 foot ceiling. Of even more importance to the crews flying the bomber into enemy air space was the security afforded them by the reliability of the newly installed Merlin power plants.

Official testing at Boscombe Down during March found that the elevators and ailerons responded well at either end of an I.A.S. range of 100 to 290 mph, but rudder pressure did increase with speed. The strong tendency to swing to port during takeoff was solved by advancing the port-outer throttle and raising the tail quickly, to allow the pilot to bring the rudders into play. In May the second prototype, DG595, took to the air. In contrast to BT308, she carried both mid-upper and ventral turrets and a newly designed and enlarged twin tail configuration which discarded the center fin. New 1,280 HP Merlin XX engines had been installed in place of the earlier Merlin Xs. The RAF now had a bomber with which it could wage war in Germany. There would be no more talk around the squadrons about reunions in POW camp!

First operational RAF squadron to be equipped with Lancasters was No 44, which used them operationally for the first time on March 3,1942 laying mines in the Heligoland Bight. Defended by ten machine-guns and carrying a maximum bomb load of 6,350 kg (14,000 lb). The Lancaster was, and soon proved itself to be a formidable weapon in the hands of the RAF, which had, by mid 1942, learned a great deal about night bombing operations over Europe. By comparison with contemporary four-engined bombers it was statistically the most effective, dropping 132 tons of bombs for each aircraft lost on operations; the corresponding figure for the Halifax and Stirling were 56 and 41 tons respectively. The Lancaster was so right, from the beginning, that there were very few changes in airframe design during its wartime service. Improved power plants, however, provided steadily improving performance: the Lancaster VII, for example, with 1,207 kW (1,620 hp) Merlin 24 engines, had a maximum takeoff weight of 30,844 kg (68,000 lb) by comparison with the 22,680 kg (50,000 lb) of the early Is. Bomb load changed considerably, the cavernous bomb bay being designed originally to carry bombs of up to 4,000 lb, with a total bomb load of 6,350 kg (14,000 lb); it was modified progressively to carry the 22,000 lb Grand Slam bomb.

The Lancaster will be remembered for its part in two spectacular operations: the breaching of the Mohne and Eder dams on the night of May 16-17,1943 by No 617 Squadron (led by Wing Cdr. Guy Gibson); and the sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz Its contribution to victory in World War II is best measured, however, by the total of 608,612 tons of bombs delivered, which represented Two-thirds of the total bomb load dropped by the RAF from the time of its entry into service. A total of 7,366 Lancasters were built (including Mk Xs in Canada) and the type remained in front-line service with the RAF until 1954. Canada had some photo-reconnaissance Lancasters in service in 1964.

Nice shots! Keep them coming.

That's a classic. Low pass with three engines feathered. Always gives me a rye smile. Alex Henshaw maybe?

More pics

More pics

Think this is an Avro Lincoln. Different nose, longer body, different engines. But still great images.

Flexi

Second of the four-engined heavy bombers to enter service with the RAF, in November 1940, the Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax was one of the famous triad comprised of the Handley Page Halifax, Avro Lancaster and Short Stirling which mounted RAF Bomber Command's night-bombing offensive against Germany. In conjunction with the daylight attacks for which the USAAF had accepted responsibility, this round-the-clock battering of German targets reached its peak in 1944, causing almost unbelievable devastation. But although it entered service more than a year ahead of the Lancaster, the Halifax was always somewhat over-shadowed in the bombing role by the achievement of the superb Lancaster. The Halifax, however, scored over the Lancaster in its multi-role capability, for in addition to its deployment as a heavy night-bomber, it was equally at home when employed as an ambulance, freighter, glider tug, personnel transport and maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

The origin of the Halifax stemmed back to an Air Ministry requirement of 1935 for a twin-engined bomber, to which Handley Page submitted a design identified as the H.P.55. This proved to be unsuccessful, but about a year later the Air Ministry issued a new specification, P.13/36, which called for a medium/heavy bomber to be powered by two 24-cylinder engines known as the Vulture X-Type which Rolls-Royce then had under development. Handley Page's H.P.56 proposal was selected for prototype construction, but the company had doubts that the Vulture engine would emerge as a reliable production powerplant, and set about the task of redesigning the H.P.56 to take four Bristol Taurus engines, but this was soon changed to incorporate Rolls-Royce Merlins instead. The overall configuration was not greatly changed, but the H.P.57 design, which was submitted to the Air Ministry for approval, was for a considerably larger and heavier aeroplane. 40,000 lbs (18141 kg) loaded weight instead of the original 26,300 lbs (11927 kg).

On 3 September 1937 Handley Page was awarded a contract for the manufacture of two prototypes of the H.P.57, with construction beginning in early 1938. When the first of these was nearing completion, it was realised that the company's airfield at Radlett, Hertfordshire, was too restricted for the first flight of such a large aircraft, and it was decided instead to use the nearest non-operationa1 RAF airfield, which was at Bicester in Oxfordshire. Thus, final assembly was carried out at Bicester and it was from there that the first flight (L7244) was made on 25 October 1939.

As then flown the H.P.57 was a mid-wing cantilever monoplane of all-metal construction, the wing incorporating automatic leading-edge slats, but these were deleted on production aircraft as the Air Ministry required that the wing leading edges should be armoured and provided with barrage balloon cable cutters. The tail unit comprised a large high-mounted tailplane and rudder assembly with twin endplate fins and rudders, and the fuselage was a deep, slab-sided all-metal structure with considerable internal volume, it was this feature which was to provide the later versions with multi-role capability. Accommodation was provided for a crew of seven, including three gunners to man the nose, beam and tail positions. Landing gear was of retractable tailwheel type, and the powerplant comprised four Merlin engines. For its primary role as a bomber, a variety of weapons could be carried in a 22 ft (6.71 m) long bomb bay in the lower fuselage, supplemented by two bomb compartments in the wing centre-section, one on each side of the fuselage.

The second prototype (L7245) made its first flight on 17 August 1940, followed just under two months later on 11 October 1940 by the first production example (L9485), by then designated Halifax Mk I, and this was powered by 1,280 hp (954 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines. Armament of these early production aircraft consisted of two and four 7.7 mm (0.303 in) machine-guns in nose and tail turrets, respectively. Full designation of the first production version was Halifax B.Mk I Series I, and these began to equip the RAF's No.35 Bomber Squadron based in Leeming starting on 23 November 1940. It was this unit that, on 11 March 1941, was the first to use the Halifax operationally, in an attack on Le Havre by six of the squadrons aircraft, and a few days later the Halifax became the first of the RAF's four-engined bombers to make a night attack against a German target, when bombs were dropped on Hamburg by three aircraft. The Halifax was used for the first time in a daylight attack against Kiel on 30 June 1941, but it did not take long to discover that the aircraft's defensive armament was inadequate for daylight use, and by the end of 1941 the Halifaxes were used only by night in the bombing role. This resulted in the provision of better armament for later versions.

Early deployment of the Halifax had confirmed that this new four-engined bomber had much to offer, but although contracts for large-scale construction very quickly exceeded the productive capacity of the Handley Page factories at Cricklewood and Radlett, pre-war plans had been made for alternative sources of supply. The establishment of four new production lines was made easier by the unit method of construction which had been adopted for the Halifax, and the first of these sub-contract aircraft to fly, on 15 August 1941, came from the English Electric Company of Preston, which had earlier been involved in the manufacture of Handley Page's Hampden medium-bomber. The other three lines were those of Fairey Aviation Company Limited of Stockport, Rootes Securities Limited of Spekes and the London Aircraft Production Group (London Passenger Transport Board).

From their first introduction into operational service, Halifax bombers were in continuous use by RAF Bomber Command, equipping at their peak usage no fewer than 34 squadrons in the European theatre, and four more in the Middle East. Two flights were in early use in the Far East, and following VE-Day a number of squadrons operating with the Halifax B.Mk VI flew their aircraft out for co-operation with the Allied forces fighting in the Pacific theatre The Halifax was involved in the first Pathfinder operations in August 1942 and was the first RAF aircraft to be equipped with the highly secret H2S blind bombing radar equipment. It was also involved in extensively in daylight attacks on German V-1 sites. Between 1941 and 1945 the Halifax flew 75,532 sorties during which 231252 tonnes (227,610 tons) of bombs were dropped on European targets.

The Halifax was also operated by nine squadrons of the RAF's Coastal Command for anti-submarine, meteorological and shipping patrols, the aircraft being converted from standard bombers and specially equipped, taking the designations Halifax GR.Mk II, GR.Mk V or GR.Mk VI according to the bomber version from which they were derived. Similarly, RAF Transport Command acquired Halifax C.Mk III, C.Mk VI and C.Mk VII aircraft as casualty, freight and personnel transports. Little known in wartime was the work of Nos 138 and 161 SOE (Special Duties) Squadrons, which had the task of dropping special agents and/or supplies by parachute into enemy territory.

One other vital use of the Halifax was by the Airborne Forces, for under the designations Halifax A.Mk III, A.Mk V and A.Mk VII, equivalent bomber versions were converted to serve for the deployment of paratroops or as glider tugs. The Halifax was, in fact, the only aircraft capable of towing the large General Aircraft Hamilcar glider, a capability first proven in February 1942. Soon after that date the Halifax tug made its operational debut when two Airspeed Horsas were hauled across the North Sea to attack the German heavy-water plant in south Norway.

The Halifax Mk I was followed into service by the Halifax B.Mk II Srs 1, which introduced a Boulton Paul twin-gun dorsal turret, and an increase of 15 per cent in standard fuel capacity. The powerplant, initially Merlin XXs, was changed later to Merlin 22s of equal power output. These changes, plus others introduced after the prototypes had made their first flights, resulted in a steady increase in gross weight. As there had been no surplus engine power from the outset, the result was that operational performance was being eroded by enhanced capability. This can be accepted during wartime conditions provided the rate of attrition remains fairly constant, but in the case of the Halifax Mk II the dorsal turret represented 'the last straw', and steps were taken immediately to improve the performance of these aircraft.

Nice shots!

Manufactured by Avro and incorporating the wings, tail, undercarriage and engines of the Lancaster bomber, the York was to prove a useful military and civilian transport aircraft in war and peace. In 1941, Avro designer Roy Chadwick began to sketch out a long range transport aircraft based on the Lancaster. The result became the Avro Type 685 York, and the prototype flew on 5 July 1942. Production began in 1943 and 258 aircraft were manufactured before construction ceased in November 1946. Yorks were used by the RAF and by a number of British and Commonwealth airlines and charter companies during the 1940s and 1950s. During the Berlin Airlift, Yorks flew 58124 of the 131800 sorties conducted by the RAF. British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Avro York aircraft took over the Shorts Empire Class flying boat routes from Cairo to Durban in late 1946. British South American Airways (BSAA) were also operators of Avro York aircraft on their routes to South America.