I got to go in a taxy ride on board the Lancaster ‘Just Jane’ at the Lincolnshire Heritage Centre. They described the aircraft as a ‘reverse tardis’ at the centre before we went on board, this is a pretty good analogy. So much of the aircraft is bomb bay that the crew areas are pretty tiny.
Having been in and sat in all the positions and in one while all the engines have been running I have a new found respect for the brave young lads that went to war in these aircraft, especially the tail turret gunner, whose average life expectancy was 40 hours. Their tour of duty was 30 trips, each of around 10 hours…
Anyway, here are some photographs from both inside and out:
Returning from the 2nd taxy run of the day:
Heading out on the 2nd taxy run:
Just Jane’s nose section, the bomb aimers compartment is probably one of the bigger sections in the aircraft. When stood up to man the nose turret the space is suddenly reduced and you have the breaches of the machine guns very close to your shoulders, certainly an awkward position to stand in:
The mammoth wheels and sturdy undercarriage, responsible for holding significant bomb loads during take off:
The bomb bay, the Lancaster could carry the same bomb load as the B52, albeit not as far or as fast. When the grand slam was dropped from underneath the aircraft would climb 1000 feet due to the nose high attitude it was flying in to keep the huge payload airborne. Note the 2 port holes at the rear of the bomb bay for the crew to check no bombs had hung up:
The average life expectancy of a tail gunner was around 40 hours. Each crew was expected to make 30 trips of around 10 hours each to complete a tour of duty. The position is hard to get into and out of when stationary, let alone when spinning out of control and in flames. Remember these brave young men who sat for 10 hours at a time at night in the dark and fairly isolated in the aircraft:
The bomb aimers position from the inside:
The H2S radar operator’s position - these units were only fitted on a few lancasters I believe:
The tail turret from the inside, the double handed control in the centre was the joystick for controlling the turret. The gunner’s parachute was on the wall inside the aircraft to the left of this shot. He would reach in and grab it, clip it to his chest harness and turn the turret to one side so he could fall out of the back… hopefully. The turret is powered only by the number 2 engine, which if lost renders the turret immobile bar a hand winding mechanism:
