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The Avro 691 Lancastrian was a British passenger and mail transport aircraft of the 1940s and 1950s developed from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. The Lancaster was named after Lancaster, Lancashire; a Lancastrian is an inhabitant of Lancaster. The Lancastrian was basically a modified Lancaster bomber without armour or armament and with the gun turrets replaced by streamlined metal fairings. The initial batch was converted directly from Lancasters; later batches were new builds.
[edit] Design and developmentIn 1943, Avro, through its wartime Victory Aircraft Canadian subsidiary, converted a Lancaster X bomber for civil transport duties with Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA). [1]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 enhanced by two 400 gal (1,818 L) Lancaster long-range fuel tanks fitted as standard in the bomb bay. These Lancastrians were used by TCA on its Montreal–Prestwick route.[2] The modification of abundant military aircraft into desperately needed civil transports was common in the United Kingdom in the immediate post-war period: the Handley Page Halton was a similar conversion of the Halifax heavy bomber. [edit] Operational historyIn 1945, deliveries commenced of 30 British-built Lancastrians for BOAC. On a demonstration flight on 23 April 1945, G-AGLF flew 13,500 mi (21,700 km) from England to Auckland, New Zealand in three days, 14 hours at an average speed of 220 mph (354 km/h). 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 a small crew, and bombs of great weight but relatively small size in a bomb bay. Consequently it was not suited to carry large numbers of passengers, but 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 number PD328, converted to a Lancastrian and renamed Aries, completed the first airborne circumnavigation of the globe, as well as serving with QANTAS and Flota Aerea Mercante Argentina. Lancastrians were used during the Berlin Airlift to transport petrol; 15 aircraft made over 5,000 trips. Two Lancastrian Is were used by Rolls Royce and the Royal Aircraft Establishment for tests of various turboprop and jet engines. One powered by two Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets in addition to two Merlins is credited with the first international passenger jet flight from London to Paris on 23 November 1946; the flight time was 41 minutes on power from the jets alone. [3] [edit] Star Dust Main article: Star Dust (aircraft) On 2 August 1947 Lancastrian G-AGWH Star Dust of British South American Airways was lost in the Argentine Andes, whilst en route from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile. The probable cause of the crash was a navigation error due to the then-unknown effect of the fast-moving jetstream. [edit] Variants
[edit] Operators[edit] Civil Operators
[edit] Military Operators[edit] Specifications (Lancastrian C.1)General characteristics
Performance
[edit] See alsoRelated development Related lists [edit] References
[edit] External links
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