LEGENDARY
LANC
Avro Lancaster
The Dambuster
“Only two still fly. Both are national treasures.”
Avro · military
Length
69 ft 4 in
Wingspan
102 ft 0 in
Max speed
245 kts
Range
2,199 nmi
Ceiling
21,400 ft
Engines
4x Rolls-Royce Merlin XX V-12s (1,280 hp each)
Crew
7
Typical config
Crew of 7
Built
7,377
The Lancaster was RAF Bomber Command's heavy hitter, flown on the 1943 Dams Raid and built to haul the 22,000 lb Grand Slam — the largest payload of any bomber in the war. Of 7,377 built, seventeen survive largely intact, and exactly two still fly: PA474 with the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and Canada's FM213, known as VeRA.
Fun fact
A Lancaster could carry the 22,000 lb Grand Slam — the largest payload of any bomber in World War II.
How to spot one
Four engines, twin oval tail fins, and a long greenhouse canopy. Only two fly in the world — if you see one, you are seeing a national treasure.
Crews call it
The Lanc
Sounds like
Four Merlins at once — a rolling thunder that British airshow crowds go quiet for
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Dambuster from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook.
