fastmongrel
1st Sergeant
The Lancaster, B-17, and B-24 all seem to be similar in weight and power and wing area. The B-24 has the better wing and the B-17 had the better altitude performance. The biggest problem I perceive for the Lancaster in the daytime role is its limited service ceiling, around 10,000 ft lower than the other two. The lower the altitude, the better the flak coverage. Otherwise the basic airframes seem equally adaptable.
The main marks of Lancaster only had single stage Merlins or in a few single stage Hercules engines. The RAF didnt bomb much above 20,000 so didnt need to fly higher if there had been the need the service ceiling of 22 to 24,000 feet could have been raised by fitting 2 stage Merlins and the extended wing which was designed for but never fitted to Lancasters. Basically AVRO could build the Lincoln earlier for use in europe. Its not a big leap to get the Lincoln into service earlier it was just a developed Lancaster. Still not going to fly as high as the US bombers but the increase in cruising altitude would be useful.