Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Long-range commercial transport

Power Plant:

Four 1,220 kw (1,635 hp) Rolls Royce Merlin 500 VEE twelve-cylinder liquid-cooled engines

Specifications:

History:

Pending the re-opening of the world airline routes following the conclusion of World War II by new companies, and the placement into production of aircraft types such as the Handley Page Hermes and the Avro Tudor, the need for a stopgap airliner was seen in the United Kingdom as an urgent requirement and to this end Handley Page and Avro decided to provide long-range airliners in the form of converted Halifaxes and Lancasters.

The Avro 691 Lancastrian, like the York, used the wing and engines of the Lancaster, but had the fuselage altered by the removal of the nose and tail turrets, which were faired over, the mid upper turret being removed and extra windows being installed in the fuselage. New nose and tail cones were built and installed, the first conversion being made to a Lancaster III (R5727), formerly of No 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, which was flown to Canada in 1941 for this purpose. This aircraft became CF-CMS and entered service with Trans Canada Airlines.

As a transport the Lancastrian was found to very successful, capable of carrying 6,350 kg (14,000 lb). Ten forward facing passenger seats were installed, and additional fuel tanks were installed to bring the range up to 6,437 km (4,000 miles). The inaugural flight was flown on 22 July 1943, flying from Dorval in Montreal to Prestwick in Scotland, non-stop in a time of 12 hrs 26 mins. On 3 March 1944 it flew from Prestwick to Montreal with a combined load of freight, mail and passengers in record time.

The service continued until 1947, some 1,900 crossings being made. In 1944 some 21 late-production Lancaster Mk I airframes were earmarked for BOAC, being delivered to the BOAC Development Flight at Hurn, these being obtained for the BOAC route to Australia pending the availability of Avro Tudors, the route to be operated jointly with Qantas.

On 23 April 1945 Lancastrian G-AGLF made a proving flight to Auckland, NZ, covering the 21,532 km (13,380 miles) in a time of 53 hrs 13 mins.

On 31 May BOAC and Qantas opened the Kangaroo route from Hurn in Dorset to Sydney, NSW crew changes being made at Karachi in  Pakistan, the first east-bound flight being made by G-AGLV and the first westbound service from Sydney being made by G-AGLS on 2 June.

The first Lancastrian delivered to Qantas G-AGLS arrived at Mascot, NSW on 17 April 1945 after a flight of 58 hrs 12 mins. Training of Qantas crews was performed at No 7 Operational Training Unit of the RAAF at Tocumwal, NSW using the Lancaster A66-1 ‘Queenie’.

British-built Lancastrians were fitted with Merlin 24 engines and the Canadian-built aircraft had Packard-built Merlin 38s. The Lancastrian 3 was an improved variant with additional windows and accommodation for 13 passengers. In March 1946 a regular service between London, UK and Buenos Aires in Argentina commenced.

First loss on the Kangaroo route was G-AGLX which disappeared over the Indian Ocean north of Cocos Island on 24 March 1946. Another loss was G-AGMH which crashed at Karachi, on 17 May 1946. Later the Kangaroo route was changed to operate from Heathrow in Greater London in lieu of Hurn.

By the time production concluded in 1946, 82 Lancastrians had been built. Main civil operators of the Lancastrian included BOAC (24), BSAA (13), Skyways (17), Silver City Airways (3), Flight Refuelling (9), Alitalia (5) and Qantas (4).  It also saw extensive service with the RAF, particularly during the Berlin Airlift, and as the C Mk 1 and C Mk 2 was used on long-haul flights to the Far East and Australia, operating from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire and later Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire.  Most RAF Lancastrians were scrapped after being declared obsolete in 1949.

The Kangaroo service continued to December 1947. Four Lancastrians saw service with Qantas between 1945 and 1952.  One (c/n 1180 – ex VF167, G-AGLZ), an ex BOAC machine, became VH-EAU in November 1947 and was broken up at Mascot in August 1952.

Another (c/n 1184 – ex VF155, G-AGMD) became VH-EAS in July 1947 but was lost landing at Dubbo, NSW on 7 April 1949 when an undercarriage collapsed during a ground loop at the end of the landing run. Efforts to put out a fire in an engine bay failed and the aircraft was destroyed.

VH-EAT (c/n 1191 – ex VF147, G-AGML) was registered in September 1947 and was broken up at Mascot in August 1952.

VH-EAV (c/n 1291, ex G-AHBW) was registered in January 1948 and crashed at Mascot on 17 November 1951. On the latter occasion on taking off on a flight to New Zealand it veered to the left, an engine failed, it left the runway, the undercarriage collapsed and it crashed into a shallow ditch and was damaged beyond repair.

In addition BOAC operated 19 aircraft on the Australian route, all British registered, five of these (G-AGLS, G-AGLT, G-AGLW, G-AGLY and G-AGLZ) being allotted to Qantas.   Qantas also operated a weekly service between Sydney and Japan with the Lancastrian for the RAAF, this relating to the Australian occupation forces in that country in the 1940s.

In Qantas service the Lancastrian was fitted out to carry nine passengers by day, or six in bunks at night.  One early service was Sydney to Norfolk Island, the inaugural service being on 14 October 1947.  One (VH-EAV) was modified in 1949 to take a pod to carry Wright Cyclone and Pratt & Whitney engines for Lockheed Constellations and Douglas Skymasters in the Qantas fleet should engine changes be required along the route, and this aircraft became known as ‘the Pregnant Pup’.

No Lancastrians survive.