European Aviation History

  The Lancaster has become the iconic RAF bomber of World War Two.  It almost doesn't matter if it was better than the rest. At this stage, it has wormed its way into memories and hearts and histories. Yet like the equally familiar and beloved Spitfire, its place of honor is not entirely undeserved.   The Lancaster began its "career" as a twin-engined, medium bomber that failed miserably. Dubbed the Manchester, the twin-engined bomber was severely under-powered and so one of the designers at the manufacturer Avro suggested expanding the wing-span and adding two more engines. The resulting four-engined aircraft powered by the legendary Merlin engines was renamed Lancaster, and soon proved to be an outstanding aircraft.  Even more surprising, perhaps, was that the initial design proved so satisfactory that although later models were built, the original Mark I remained in production throughout the war. It had a maximum speed of 282 mph and a service ceiling of 21,400 fe...

  The RAF's four-engine bombers became the instrument that systematically destroyed German industrial capacity. They delivered the "whirlwind" that Hitler had conjured up by "sowing the wind" in his aerial attacks on Britain. The first to go into service was the Stirling (described last week) and the most famous was the Lancaster, yet the Halifax also played a major role and deserves to be remembered. I have to admit to a personal interest in the Halifax. My uncle Ken flew -- and died -- in a Halifax in early 1944. It was also a controversial aircraft. Halifaxes first flew operationally in March 1941. They had an operational range of 1,860 miles,  significantly more than the Sterling, and a payload of 14,500 lbs. Early versions had a maximum speed of 265 mph at 17,500 feet, which seemed impressive. Yet, performance quickly proved disappointing, and the Halifax was upgraded five times in the course of the war. Each new "Mark" represented a significant...

The advent of the four-engine bombers with their large payloads and greater range  finally gave Britain the tools with which to strike back at Hitler. The first of these to go into service was the Sterling.   When introduced in early 1941, the Sterling had a payload twice that of any other bomber operating at that time: 14,000 lbs. It had a maximum speed of 250 mph which increased in later versions to 280 mph -- very fast for a bomber by contemporary standards. It carried eight machine guns for defense: two in the nose, four in the tail and two amidships, whereby the initial retractable belly turret proved impractical and was later replaced with a dorsal turret. At the time of its introduction in early 1941, the Sterling was in a class by itself.  Yet it proved to have three serious drawbacks: its range when fully loaded was just 590 miles, which did not allow for deep penetration into Germany. It's bomb bay design could not be adapted to accommodate bombs larger than the...

  The de Havilland Mosquito was undoubtedly one of the most versatile and innovative aircraft of the Second World War. Although designed as a bomber, it saw service as a fighter as well -- and in a wide variety of other roles as well.   De Havilland sold the concept of the Mosquito to the Air Ministry in part by arguing that unlike metal alloys required in other aircraft, the Mosquito could be made of wood, a more-readily available material. It was also, radically, conceived as an unarmed bomber that would rely on its speed alone to escape the ravages of enemy fighters. It had a crew of just two, a pilot and navigator that sat side-by-side, and the bomber variant had no defensive armament. Overall, it was so light that it could carry a payload of initially 2,000 lbs later 4,000 lbs. despite its diminutive size (it's wingspan was roughly half that of the "heavies.") In it's final iterations, the Mosquito achieved a maximum speed of 415 mph and a service ceiling of 44,0...

  The Wellington, like the Whitley, was a medium bomber pressed into service in 1938, at a time when it was already becoming obvious it was inadequate for the job. The world had changed too rapidly and Britain, a fundamentally pacifist nation in the interwar years, found itself confronting an increasingly militant -- and well-armed -- Nazi Germany.  Yet if the Wellington was not the bomber that would win the war, it was versatile and well-designed. It would prove more valuable and enduring than the Witney and Hampdem, and did valuable service to the end of the war. Although designed to the same specifications as the Whitney, the Wellington was notably different. It was the brain-child of Barnes Wallis, an engineer most famous for his innovative bombs such as the bouncing bombs used on the Ruhr dams and the massive "earth-quake" bombs used at the end of the war.  His major contribution to the Wellington was the use of a geodetic air frame, which is based on the concept of ...

  It is one of the ironies of history that although the RAF started the Second World War believing that strategic bombing was the way to win, the RAF had no bomber in service that could fulfill the role expected of it. As late as 1936, the RAF's bombers were biplanes! They were characterized by short ranges, small bomb-loads and maximum speeds of 137 mph.  The arrival a year later of the Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley, the first of three "medium" or twin-engined bombers, was the dawn of a new age  -- sort of.   The Whitley was designed as a combined night bomber and troop transport and it was initially expected to find service in the far-flung corners of the Empire where fighting against insurgencies or putting down tribal conflict often took place in remote locations poorly accessible by road. The Air Staff envisaged Whitleys flying in ground troops to these inaccessible places and then provided air support -- against forces without air defenses or opposing air forces....