Regarded by many RAF bomber crews as the 'Queen of the Skies', the lancaster was the backbone of the RAF's bombing offensive against Germany from 1942 onwards. Capable of lifting a heavy bomb load and carrying it a long distance, the lancaster had a high ceiling and was relatively easy to fly because it had a large wing area. AVRO LANCASTER B Mk I TYPE: Heavy bomber with crew of 7 ENGINES: Four 1,460 hp ('M gear') Rolls Royce Merlin XX or 22: or 1,640 hp ('M gear') Merlin 24 12 cylinder liquid-cooled engines. DIMENSIONS: Wingspan 102ft (31.09 m) Length (on ground) 68 ft 10in (20.98 m) Height (on ground) 20 ft4 in (6.19 m) WEIGHT: Empty but with equipment 41,000 lb. Maximum take-off weight 72,000 Ib (32,688 kg) ARMAMENT: Eight 0.303 in Browning machine guns in Fraser Nash turrets at nose, tail and in dorsal position. 14,000 Ib (6,350 kg) bomb load. PERFORMANCE: (with Merlin 24 engines) max speed 281 mph (452 km/h) at 11,000 ft (3,353 m). Service ceiling 20,000 ft (6,100 m). Range 1,040 miles (1,673 km) with standard load
The bomb load most commonly used for area bombing raids (Bomber Command executive codeword 'Usual') in the bomb bay of an Avro Lancaster of 57 Squadron at Scampton Lincolnshire. 'Usual' consisted of a 4,000lb impact-fused HC bomb ('cookie'), and 12 Small Bomb Containers (SBCs) each loaded with incendiaries, in this case 236 4lb incendiary sticks.
