Avro Lancastrian


The Avro 691 Lancastrian was a British and Canadian passenger and mail transport aircraft of the 1940s and 1950s developed from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. The Lancastrian was basically a modified Lancaster bomber without armour or armament and with the gun turrets replaced by streamlined metal fairings, including a new nose section. The initial batch was converted directly from Lancasters; later batches were new builds.

Design and development

In 1943, Canada's Victory Aircraft converted a Lancaster X bomber for civilian transport duties with Trans-Canada Airlines.. This conversion was a success, resulting in eight additional Lancaster Xs being converted. The "specials" were powered by Packard-built Merlin 38 engines and featured a lengthened, streamlined nose and tail cone. Range was increased by two 400 gal Lancaster long-range fuel tanks fitted as standard in the bomb bay. These Lancastrians were used by TCA on its Montreal–Prestwick route.
The modification of abundant military aircraft into desperately needed civilian transports was common in the United Kingdom in the immediate postwar period; the Handley Page Halton was a similar conversion of the Halifax heavy bomber.

Operational history

In 1945, deliveries commenced of 30 British-built Lancastrians for BOAC. On a demonstration flight on 23 April 1945, G-AGLF flew 13,500 mi from England to Auckland, New Zealand in three days, 14 hours at an average speed of 220 mph.
The Lancastrian was fast, had a long range, and was capable of carrying a heavy load, but space inside was very limited as the Lancaster had been designed with space for its seven crew dispersed throughout the fuselage, and with the majority of the load being carried in the 33 ft long bomb bay. Consequently, as passengers are bulky but low in weight, it was not suited to carry large numbers of passengers, but was suitable for mail and a small number of VIP passengers. BOAC used it for flights between England and Australia from 31 May 1945. It also served with the RAF; RAF Lancaster I serial number PD328, was converted to a Lancastrian and renamed Aries, as well as serving with Qantas and Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina.
15 Lancastrians made over 5,000 trips during the Berlin Airlift to transport petrol. In 1946 a Lancastrian operated by BSAA was the first aircraft to make a scheduled flight from the then-newly opened London Heathrow Airport.

Lancastrian engine testbeds

Data from: Avro Aircraft since 1908
With the advent of gas turbine engines there emerged a need to test the new engines in a controlled flight environment in well instrumented installations. An ideal candidate emerged as the Avro Lancastrian which could easily accommodate the test instrumentation as well as fly on the power of two piston engines if required. Several Lancastrians were allocated for engine test-bed work with turbojet engines replacing the outer Merlin engines or test piston engines in the inner nacelles. Fuel arrangements varied but could include kerosene jet fuel in outer wing tanks or fuselage tanks, with avgas carried in remaining fuel tanks.
NameSerialTest engineFirst flightNotes
Nene-LancastrianVH7422x Rolls-Royce Nene14 August 1946Flew the first international all-jet passenger flight from London to Paris on 23 November 1946.
Nene-LancastrianVH7372x Rolls-Royce Nene-
Avon-LancastrianVM7322x Rolls-Royce Avon
Avon-LancastrianVL9702x Rolls-Royce AvonLatterly used to test the Rolls-Royce Avon 502 civil turbojet for the de Havilland Comet 2 airliner.
Ghost-LancastrianVM7032x de Havilland Ghost 50 + 2x Walter HWK 109-500 RATOG packs24 July 1947Testing the engines and takeoff-boost system proposed for the de Havilland Comet 1 airliner
Ghost-LancastrianVM7292x de Havilland Ghost 50Used for afterburner research and later development and certification of the Ghost 50 for the Comet 1a
Sapphire-LancastrianVM7332x Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire18 January 1950
Griffon-LancastrianVM7042x Rolls-Royce Griffon 57 inboardUsed for testing the Griffon installation for the Avro Shackleton
Griffon-LancastrianVM7282x Rolls-Royce Griffon 57 inboardUsed for testing the Griffon installation for the Avro Shackleton
Merlin 600-LancastrianVM7042x Rolls-Royce Merlin 600Used for testing the civil Merlin 600-series for use in the Canadair C4M and Avro Tudor

Accidents and incidents

The Aviation Safety Network, part of the Flight Safety Foundation, records 23 hull loss accidents involving the Lancastrian occurring between 1946 and 1964 resulting in a total of 81 fatalities.
Notable accidents include:
; Lancastrian G-AGLX
On 23 March 1946 Lancastrian G-AGLX was lost over the Indian Ocean en route between British Ceylon and Cocos Islands. All 10 on board died.
; Lancastrian G-AGWH, Star Dust
On 2 August 1947 Lancastrian G-AGWH ''Star Dust of British South American Airways was lost in the Andes en route from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile. The probable cause of the crash was a navigation error due to the unknown effect of the fast-moving jetstream.
;Lancastrian T-102
On 11 December 1960 Lancastrian T-102'' of the Argentine Air Force crashed near San Andrés de Giles, Argentina. All 31 on board were killed. This was the worst accident involving this type of aircraft.

Variants

;Lancaster XPP
;Lancastrian C.1
;Lancastrian C.2
;Lancastrian 3
;Lancastrian C.4

Operators

Civil operators