Wednesday 22 November 2017

Avro Lancaster Mk.I (FE)

The Avro Lancaster Mk.I (FE) was a tropicalized variant of the late batch of the Lancaster Mk.I. It was designed exclusively for the Tiger Air Force and their operations in the Far East against Japanese homeland.
This variant had modified radio, radar, navaids and a 400gal (1818L) installed in the bomb-bay. Most of them were painted with upper-surface in white to reduce internal temperatures under the tropical sun. Undersides were painted black with low demarcation between colours and omitting completely any red colours, except for the circle of the roundel.
There were many bomber squadrons in the Tiger Air Force, but we're covering three of them in this post:

  • No.7 Squadron: This squadron received the Mk.I (FE) just after the war in Europe ended, in summer 1945, but due to the surrender of Japan, they weren't needed, so they held the Mk.I (FE) until they were replaced by the Avro Lincoln in 1946.
  • No.115 Squadron: After the war, they were rebased back to the United Kingdom and trained to be part of the Tiger Air Force, however they weren't needed as Japan surrendered. Their Mk.I (FE) were replaced by the regular Lancaster in 1946.
  • No.214 Squadron: Just like the previous squadrons, this one was going to serve, and started their training after the war in Europe was over, with the Tiger Air Force. However when the Tiger Air Force was disbanded, they switched back to the regular Avro Lancaster.










Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Lancaster#Variants
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._7_Squadron_RAF
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._115_Squadron_RAF
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._214_Squadron_RAF
5. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 52 - Lancaster in Action

No comments:

Post a Comment