"Per noctem volamus (We fly through the night)"
- Motto of No.9 Squadron

Entering service at the beginning of 1942, the Lancaster's design grew out of a failed predecessor, the Avro Manchester. While its' airframe offered a stable platform for heavy bombing assignments, the Manchester's twin engine design was inadequate to the task. By upgrading to four Merlins, the resulting aircraft met the nation's needs and 7,366 Avro Lancasters were built during the war, the most of any British bomber. Armament included eight to ten Browning machine guns for fighter defense (depending on model variant) mounted in the nose, upper dorsal turret and the tail. Experience with a variety of bomb loads eventually led to adoption of the 'Grand Slam' 22,000-pound bomb, the largest carried by any aircraft in the war.

The majority of Lancasters built during the war years were manufactured by Avro at their factory at Chadderton near Manchester and test flown from Woodford Aerodrome in Cheshire. Other Lancasters were built by Metropolitan-Vickers (1080, also tested at Woodford) and Armstrong Whitworth. The aircraft was also produced at the Austin Motor Company works in Longbridge, Birmingham later in the Second World War and postwar by Vickers-Armstrongs at Chester. Only 300 of the Lancaster B II fitted with Bristol Hercules engines were constructed; this was a stopgap modification caused by a shortage of Merlin engines as fighter production was of higher priority. Many BII's were lost after running out of fuel.

The Lancaster B III had Packard Merlin engines but was otherwise identical to contemporary B Is, with 3,030 B IIIs built, almost all at A.V. Roe's Newton Heath factory. The B I and B III were built concurrently, and minor modifications were made to both marks as new batches were ordered. Examples of these modifications were the relocation of the pitot head from the nose to the side of the cockpit, and the change from de Havilland "needle blade" propellers to Hamilton Standard or Nash Kelvinator made "paddle blade" propellers.

Of later variants, only the Canadian-built Lancaster B X, manufactured by Victory Aircraft in Malton, Ontario, was produced in significant numbers. A total of 430 of this type were built, earlier examples differing little from their British-built predecessors, except for using Packard-built Merlin engines and American-style instrumentation and electrics. Late-series models replaced the Frazer Nash mid-upper turret with a differently configured Martin turret, mounted slightly further forward for weight balance. A total of 7,377 Lancasters of all marks were built throughout the duration of the war, each at a 1943 cost of 45-50,000 (approximately equivalent to 1.3-1.5 million in 2005 currency).

For the dam-busting strike in May 1943, the Lancaster dropped British designer Barnes Wallis's 'bouncing bombs' which skipped on the surface before impact. Wartime Lancaster sorties totaled about 156,000 during which roughly 608,000 tons of ordnance were dropped on the enemy.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a RAF Avro Lancaster B1 special heavy bomber that was nicknamed 'Johnny Walker'. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 17-inches
Length: 11-3/4-inches

Release Date: May 2013

Historical Account: "Operation Catechism" - Throughout the Second World War the Lancaster was involved in a number of daring and historic raids. From the famous breaching of the dams during Operation Chastise to the later battles over Berlin and Hamburg, the Lancaster was at the forefront of many Allied bombing campaigns. The Lancaster was also instrumental to the sinking of the Tirpitz which, at the time, was the pride of the German Navy.

Towards the end of the war the Tirpitz was hiding in a Norwegian fjord, safe from the Royal Navy, but vulnerable to attack from the RAF. On November 12th, 1944, the RAF attacked her for the final time. Codenamed Operation Catechism, the raid consisted of 31 Lancasters from 9 and 617 Squadrons armed with the 12,000lb Tallboy bomb.

Despite the battleship using its huge 38cm guns to try and break up the bomber formation, the ship was very vulnerable and was hit by two bombs. The Tallboy from W4964 penetrated near the aircraft catapult, exploded and created a large hole in the ship's side and bottom. Shortly afterwards Tirpitz capsized, burying her superstructure into the mud. Lancaster W4964 completed a total of 102 missions, with the historic Tirpitz raid occurring on her 100th sortie.