| Lincoln | |
|---|---|
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| A lineup of Avro Lincoln B.2s | |
| Role | Heavy bomber |
| Manufacturer | A V Roe and Metropolitan-Vickers |
| First flight | 9 June 1944 |
| Introduced | 1945 |
| Retired | 1967 Argentine Air Force |
| Primary users | Royal Air Force Royal Australian Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force Argentine Air Force |
| Number built | 604 |
| Developed from | Avro Lancaster |
| Variants | Avro Shackleton Avro Tudor |
The Avro Type 694 Lincoln was a British four-engined heavy bomber, first flown on 9 June, 1944. It was the last piston-engined bomber in the Royal Air Force; 604 were built.
The Avro Lincoln entered service in August 1945, too late to be used in the Second World War. However, it did see combat in two colonial insurgencies in the 1950s, the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya and the Malayan Emergency, before being phased out of the Royal Air Force. It also served in the Argentine and Australian air forces, and saw some commercial use.
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Design and development
The Avro Lincoln was Roy Chadwick's development of the Lancaster, built to the Air Ministry Specification B.14/43, having a longer span, a higher aspect ratio (10.30 compared with 8.02) wings with two-stage supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin 85 engines, and a bigger fuselage with increased fuel and bomb loads. As a result, the Lincoln had a higher operational ceiling and longer range than the Lancaster. The prototype Lincoln was assembled by Avro's experimental flight department at Manchester's Ringway Airport and made its maiden flight from there on 9 June 1944.[1]
It was known initially as the Lancaster IV and V (the V having the Merlin 68A engines), but these were renamed Lincoln I and II.
Operational history
There were plans to use the type in the Japan campaign, from late 1945, as part of the British Commonwealth strategic bomber unit known as Tiger Force; this was rendered unnecessary by the surrender of Japan. The Lincoln became operational too late to serve with the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth air forces in World War II.
One Lincoln pattern aircraft was completed in Canada by Victory Aircraft. No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF re-equipped with the type but disbanded shortly after the end of the war.
In the postwar Royal Air Force, the Lincoln equipped many bomber squadrons. Nearly 600 Lincolns were built to equip 29 RAF squadrons, mainly based in the United Kingdom. They were partially replaced by 88 Boeing Washingtons, on loan from the USAF, which had longer range and could reach targets inside the Iron Curtain. The Lincoln was used in combat during the 1950s in Kenya against the Mau-Mau, and Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. On 12 March 1953, a Lincoln B.2 (RF531 "C" of the Central Gunnery School) was shot down 20 mi (32 km) NE of Lüneburg by a Soviet MiG-15 as it flew to Berlin on a training flight, resulting in the deaths of the seven crew members.
The Lincolns of Bomber Command were phased out from the mid-1950s, and were completely replaced by jet bombers by 1963. The last Lincolns in RAF service were five operated by No. 151 Squadron, Signals Command, at RAF Watton, Norfolk, which were finally retired on 12 March, 1963.[2]
The Lincoln served with Argentine Air Force from 1947, 30 being acquired together with 15 Lancasters,[3][4] giving Argentina the most powerful bombing force in South America.[5] Entering service in 1948,[5] Argentina continued to use its Lincolns until 1967.[6] The aircraft were used in bombing missions against rebels during the attempted military coup in September 1951, and by both the government and rebel forces during the 1955 Revolución Libertadora coup that deposed Juan Perón.[7] Lincolns were also used to drop supplies in support of Argentinean operations in the Antarctic .[8]
A total of 54 Lincolns were built in Australia for service with the Royal Australian Air Force between 1946 and 1949, the largest aircraft ever built there.[9] The RAAF heavily modified their aircraft in the 1950s for use in anti-submarine warfare, giving them a 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) longer nose to house acoustic submarine detection gear and its operator, larger fuel tanks to give 13 hours endurance, and modifying the bomb bay to accept torpedoes. The "long-nose" variant, officially the Mk 31, was particularly difficult to land at night, as the bomber used a tailwheel and the long nose obstructed the pilot's view of the runway. 18 aircraft were remanufactured to this standard in 1952, gaining new serial numbers.[9] The final RAAF Lincolns were retired in 1961.[10]
The Avro Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft was derived from the Lincoln, as was the Tudor airliner, which used the wings of the Lincoln with a new pressurised fuselage.
Commercial service
Two Lincoln IIs were operated by D. Napier & Son Ltd. for icing research from 1948 to 1962.
A transport conversion of the Lincoln II, using the streamlined nose and tail cones of the Lancastrian and a ventral cargo pannier, was known as the Avro 695 Lincolnian.
One Lincoln Freighter converted by Airflight Ltd was used on the Berlin Air Lift by Surrey Flying Services Ltd. In addition, one Argentine example was converted to a Lincolnian by Avro at Langar. Four Lincolnian conversions by Field Aircraft Services for use as meat haulers in Paraguay were not delivered and subsequently scrapped.
Turbojet and turboprop testbeds
Postwar, Lincolns were frequently employed as testbeds in new jet engine development. RF403, RE339/G and SX972 flew with a pair of Armstrong Siddeley Python turboprops outboard in place of the Merlins, and was used for the ballistic casing drop-test programme for the Blue Danube atomic weapon.[11] SX972 was further modified to fly with a pair of Bristol Proteus turboprops. RA716/G had a similarly placed pair of Bristol Theseus turboprops and later also flew with Rolls-Royce Avon turbojets replacing the pair of turboprops.
RF533 kept its Merlins but had a Napier Naiad turboprop in the nose. It later flew, bearing the civilian "Class B" test registration G-37-1, with a similarly placed Rolls-Royce Tyne which it displayed at the 1956 Society of British Aircraft Constructors (SBAC) show, making a low level flypast on just the nose Tyne, the four Merlins being shut down and propellors feathered. [12] SX973 had a Napier Nomad turboprop installed in a similar nose-mounted installation. RA643 flew with a Bristol Phoebus turbojet in the bomb bay, and SX971 had an afterburning Rolls-Royce Derwent mounted ventrally.[13]
Variants
- Lincoln I
- Long-range bomber version for the RAF. Powered by four 1,750 hp (1,305 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin 85 inline piston engines.
- Lincoln II
- Long-range bomber version for the RAF. Powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlin 66, 68A and 300 inline piston engines. Built by Avro, Armstrong-Whitworth and Vickers-Metropolitan
- Lincoln III
- The Lincoln III was intended to be a maritime reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare aircraft. The aircraft later became the Avro Shackleton.
- Lincoln IV
- Lincoln II converted to Merlin 85 power.
- Lincoln Mk 15
- This designation was given to one aircraft, built by Victory Aircraft in Canada.
- Lincoln Mk 30
- Long-range bomber version for the RAAF.
- Lincoln Mk 30A
- Long-range bomber version for the RAAF, fitted with a longer nose.
- Lincoln Mk 31
- Anti-submarine warfare, maritime reconnaissance version for the RAAF.
Operators
- Argentine Air Force
- I Grupo de Bombardeo of V Brigada Aerea.
- Royal Australian Air Force - 54 Avro Lincolns were in service with the RAAF from 1946 to 1961.
- Royal Canadian Air Force
- Three Avro Lincolns were in service with the RCAF from 1946 to 1948.
Survivors
Four aircraft have survived:
- Lincoln II B-004
- On display as B-010 at the National Museum of Aeronautics, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Lincoln II B-016
- A gate guardian at the Villa Reynolds Military Air Base, San Luis Provence, Argentina.
- Lincoln II RF342
- In storage for future restoration at the Australian National Aviation Museum, Melbourne, Australia.
- Lincoln II RF398
- On display at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, United Kingdom.
Specifications (Lincoln I)
Data from Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57 [14]
General characteristics
- Crew: 7 (pilot, flight engineer/co-pilot, navigator, wireless operator, front gunner/bomb aimer, dorsal and rear gunners)
- Length: 78 ft 3½ in (23.86 m)
- Wingspan: 120 ft (36.58 m)
- Height: 17 ft 3½ in (5.27 m)
- Wing area: 1,421 ft² (132.01 m²)
- Empty weight: 43,400 lb (19,686 kg)
- Loaded weight: 75,000 lb (34,100 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 82,000 lb [15] (37,273 kg)
- Powerplant: 4× Rolls-Royce Merlin 85 V piston engine, 1,750 hp (1,305 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 319 mph (475 km/h) at 18,800 (5,640 m)
- Cruise speed: 215 mph (346 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
- Range: 2,930 mi (4,720 km) with maximum bomb-load 1,470 miles (2,370 km)
- Service ceiling: 30,500 ft (9,295 m)
- Rate of climb: 800 ft/min (245 m/min)
Armament
- Guns: 2 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in nose and tail turrets, and dorsal turret with either twin .50 in machine guns or twin 20 mm Hispano cannon.
- Bombs: Up to 14,000 lb (6,400 kg) of bombs.
See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
- Vickers Windsor
- B-29 Superfortress
- B-32 Dominator
- B-50 Superfortress
- Tupolev Tu-4
- Messerschmitt Me 264
Related lists
References
- Notes
- ^ Scholefield 1998, p. 37.
- ^ Jackson 1990. p. 406.
- ^ Jackson 1990, p. 409.
- ^ Marino et al. 2001, p. 65.
- ^ a b Marino et al. 2002, p. 37.
- ^ Marino et al. 2002, p. 41.
- ^ Marino et al. 2002, pp. 40–41.
- ^ Marino et al. 2002, p. 39.
- ^ a b Jackson 1990, p. 412.
- ^ Jackson 1990, pp. 408–409.
- ^ The National Archives, London, file ES 1/44
- ^ [1]
- ^ Franks 2000, pp. 97–99.
- ^ Thetford 1957, p. 65.
- ^ Jackson 1990, p. 411.
- Bibliography
- Buttler, Tony. Avro Lincoln (Warpaint series no. 34). Denbigh East, Bletchley, UK: Hall Park Books, 2000.
- Franks, Richard A. The Avro Lancaster, Manchester and Lincoln. Bedford, United Kingdom: SAM Publications, 2000. ISBN 0-9533465-3-6.
- Garbett, Mike and Brian Goulding. Lincoln at War. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Ltd, 1979. ISBN 0-7110-0847-7.
- Jackson, A.J. Avro Aircraft since 1908, 2nd edition. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1990. ISBN 0-85177-834-8.
- Marino, Atilo, Vladimiro Celleto and Javier Mosquera. "Argentina's 'Heavies': Avro Lancaster, Lincoln and Lancastrian in Military Service: Part One." Air Enthusiast, No. 95, September/October 2001. Stamford, UK. Key Publishing, pp. 64–70. ISSN 0143-5450.
- Marino, Atilo, Vladimiro Celleto and Javier Mosquera. "Argentina's 'Heavies': Avro Lancaster, Lincoln and Lancastrian in Military Service: Part Two." Air Enthusiast, No. 97, January/February 2002. Stamford, UK. Key Publishing. pp. 36-43. ISSN 0143-5450.
- Scholefield, R.A. Manchester Airport. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing, 1998. ISBN 0-7509-1954-X.
- Thetford, Owen. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57. London: Putnam, 1957.
External links
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