Manchester’s Avro Lancaster plane is to be celebrated in a BBC documentary this weekend.
The story of aeroplane that carried Barnes Wallis’s bouncing bomb, and was the workhorse of British attacks on Germany’s cities and industrial infrastructure is told by former political journalist John Sargent.
The story of the Lancaster begins in East Manchester when it became clear to Avro’s Chief Designer, Roy Chadwick, in 1938 that the new Rolls Royce Vulture engines intended for the plane that was to be called ‘The Manchester’ were suffering from a lack of development, the company set about revising the design to include an additional pair of engines, preferably the well-proven Merlin.
So dire dire was the Manchester situation that the Ministry of Aircraft production seriously considered scrapping the production line at the Avro factory at Newton Heath in Manchester after its contract for 200 Manchesters had been completed, and switch to the rival Handley Page design, the Halifax.
Fortunately, the plan never came to fruition and Avro was allowed to continue development of the Manchester III (the name Lancaster had not yet been chosen).
The first flight was made on 9th January 1941 and the aircraft flew its first mission over the German town of Essen in March 1942.
It would be best known though as the aircraft used by a new squadron No 617, the famous Dambusters squadron.
Over 7,000 of the aircraft were built, but only two airworthy examples remain, one with the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the second based in Canada.
The Lancaster: Britain’s Flying Past
BBC Two
Sunday 20th July, 9.30pm
