Gday everyone,
I was just over looking at the B17 v B24 debate and was wondering why the poor old Avro Lancaster doesn’t ever get much of a mention in these things. I’ve read a few books on the air war in Europe and always remember a thing I read once where to fly a fully laden heavy bomber at night for hours on end was like walking thru a giant building in the pitch dark with a bucket of fuel in one hand and a bucket of ammunition in the other,and then having to walk very slowly to the other end of the building while at every turn someone you can’t see jumps out and tries to kill you.
I don’t mean to offend anyone and have every respect for anyone who flew,but I think night flying a heavy bomber must have been much more difficult.
One more thing on the good old Lanc,the bombload was huge.Much bigger than a B17 or a B24. I’m with you nmayhew !
Jeff
I’m only speaking for myself here, but I’ve never been a big fan of the Lanc. I know it was a great plane with an interesting development history, but as with many other British aircraft, the seemingly random bumps and bulges are a major turn-off.
Jeff:
Probably because most of the subscribers to this forum, not to mention the model industry, is geared to the USA.
I’m with you, my dad did a tour in Halifaxes, and while not as well known as the Lancaster, the later marks were very successful and soldiered on in various guises until the ‘60’s.
The lanc certainly can hold its’ own in any debate, in my humble opinion.
BTW, that quote is from ‘Bomber’ by Len Deighton, a read I can highly recommend.
I know from talking to my dad as well as other vets that it didn’t matter what you flew, if it brought you home it was the greatest thing with two wings.
Bruce
Hi Bruce,yeah I figured that was the reason.
You’re right,they don’t mention the Halifax much.I’ve read that the Halifaxes and poor old Stirlings that couldn’t fly so high seemed to have the highest attrition rate. Correct me if I’m wrong.
I’ve read mostly Martin Middlebrooks series,“The Peenemunde Raid”, “The Nuremburg Raid” and “The Hamburg Raid”,plus a number of others. Pretty interesting and quite a few mentions about Canadian fliers. Cheers,
Jeff
Not meaning to change the subject but do you know who, if anybody, makes a 1:48 scale Lancaster? This would go great in my 1:48 scale collection.
Since we’re on the topic of the Lanc, an interesting story about them, and one of the only reasons I like them: The attack on various German dams (I can’t recall the exact names: I think Eder, Scorpe, and something else.) using the bouncing bomb. For those who don’t know the story, the problem was the only way to bust the dams was to have a bomb actually have contact with the dam at a certain depth underwater. The solution: spin a bomb under a bomber, release it at the right angle, and it will skip across the water, “stick” to the dam, then explode at a pre-determined depth. It worked, too!
There you have it, your dose of worthless information for the day. [:D][:D]
[soapbox]
-Mike
I have seen both the Lanc and B17 fly, There is no contest.
The Lanc rocks.
It had superior range and bomb load and could take anything they could throw at it.
Hard to believe it first flew with 2 engines as the Manchester.
I had a quick look around PA474 in 84 - I was posted to my first unit after training and it was my first day at work .
What a great way to start, the spitfire and hurricane were also there - great!
Tamiya make a 48th Lanc, but its expensive.
kdog8, Tamiya makes the Lanc. in 1/48. I believe it has motorized props.
No one mentioned the Lanc was a single pilot aircraft too! They didn’t get all the glamour but they sure have my respect as an old Huey Crew Chief.
My Dad also flew in the Halifax. It wasn’t as flashy as it’s counterparts but dropped a quarter of the total bomb tonnage durie the war.
I first learned about the Dam Busters when I was a kid and built an Avro Lancaster kit in the Dam Buster variation. I thought that was cool stuff back then and it’s still pretty fascinating now. Anybody remember that kit and who made it? We’re talking at least 35 years ago.
i reckon that must have been the Revell kit ? great boxart on that one - Airfix did a nice one in the early nineties also - i built it a while back - a couple of pics for you…
I wanted to say Revell, but I wasn’t sure. I do remember the box art to be very eye catching which is probably why I bought the kit in the first place.
Gday Breezely, the Airfix 1/72 Lanc was around when I was a kid though not in the dambuster version. That was easily 30 or so years ago. Didn’t know they still did it up to the 90’s. I reckon the Tamiya Lanc would be the best one these days.
Jeff
yea - both Airfix and Revell kits are still available - in a side note, was at an automotive swap in Wichita last spring and one guy had a bunch of models in his booth (cars mostly). Seems he had an unopened Airfix Lanc and only wanted 2 bucks for it - guess what wasn’t there when I left?
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the Tamia lanc is probably the best lanc kit available today but at around £85 its quite a bit pricey (available as standard/grand slam and dambuster versions). airfix has released a revised lanc in all three guises too and it is a pretty good kit too. just my 2p worth. Greg
The Tamiya 1/48 Lanc is indeed the only 1/48 kit of it made, its been re released several times and the molds date back to somewhere in the late 70 or early 80s if I’m not mistaken.
The shapes are good and there’s all sorts of potential in it, but I’m told by some who have built it, that it can be a bit of a let down when you open the box and see what is rather a spartan kit in many respects.
The good news is that there’s aftermarket parts a plenty for it including a conversion set from Paragon i believe to turn it into a post war Lincoln bomber.
I dug up an old 1:48 Halifax kit a while back but have not gotten right into it yet. I posted a thread here some time ago regarding the origin of the thing because there was no manufacturer’s information with it. I believe it was made by Contrail, vac form, medium to low quality, and it will need a lot of bashing, but also the only one around. I should finish it because the laws of modelling state that as soon a as I do someone will come out with an injection molded one.
The poor Hally took a lot of licks early on but once the rudders were sorted out and the Hercules engines fitted it had altitude over the Lanc as well and did quite well, but by then the war was into 1944 and it never overcame its’ bad reputation vs other types.
Bruce
There are several kits of the Lancaster about in both 1/72 and 1/48 scales. The original by Airfix was good for the time and was rather expensive at one pound in Australia.
The a/c depicted was G-George of 460 a RAAF squadron. The a/c has been refurbished and is once again on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
The later models produced by Airfix are magnificent and the best available in 1/72. The Revel kit is junk. Too many errors to enumerate.
The 1/48 by Tamiya is a beauty and if i had the money (and the space) I would get it tomorrow.
As far as the Halifax is concerned Airfix made an injection moulded model many years ago. My father said that it compared well to the pictures that he had.
Airfix also made a kit of the Stirling, “The largest aircraft evermade to lift an undercariage into the air”. To be fair to Shorts the Air Ministry Requirement was for basicly a land plane version of a Sunderland with the proviso that the a/c had to fit into a standard RAF hangar. So they shortened the wings!! No wonder the poor old Stirling had trouble getting into the air.
The comment that the Lancaster had too many stickey out bits and bumps is to be rather one eyed! There were fewer bumps on the Lanc than most of her contempories.
Nose turret, Mid upper and Tail. Some a/c were fitted with H2S but that was in a neatly refined fairing. Incidently the H2S got its name because the answer to the problem(of airbourne navigational radar) was so simple it stank!
As far as flying capabilities were concerned it flew like a fighter. Light and responsive, a joy to fly.
The Lancaster and its derivitives also had a long and interesting career,some of the South African Shackeltons having only retired in the eighties.
Sorry but I have to stick up for the Lancaster. It truley is one of the greatest aeroplanes of ALL time.
Dai.
Glad to see I’m not the only Lanc fan. By the way ,as a side note I not long ago read a great book called " Stardust Falling",by Jay Rayner, about the crash and eventual recovery of an Avro Lancastrian { the civil transport version of the postwar Lanc. It covers a lot of information on Donald Bennett,the Australian Pathfinder pilot who went on to found an airline in South America and the mystery surrounding the loss of one of the company aircraft. If you ever see it ,its a good read.cheers,
Jeff