Building the front end of an Avro Lancaster Bomber of WWII fame.

The story of the construction of the Pilot's, Navigator's and Radio Operator's section of an Avro Lancaster Bomber of WWII with working radar and navigation aids and sound simulation of the 4 Merlin Engines.

The Lancaster bomber was one of the most famous bombers of World War 2 its bomb load exceeding that of any other aircraft in full-scale production at the time. Only two examples are flying at the present time although there are several static examples in existence.

The enormous cost of owning and maintaining such an aircraft is beyond the resources of virtually any individual even if an aircraft existed. However by collecting original instruments, gauges, radio equipment etc. and constructing the fuselage section together with the larger mechanical items yourself, it is possible to at least sit in your own Lancaster cockpit, to operate the Navigation/Radio equipment and even run up the Merlin engines to full power.

This is the story of such a construction, now complete and on display at Pitstone Museum

What does it consist of ?

The fuselage section that has been constructed is from the leading edge of the wing, forward to include the pilot's cockpit. It also includes the whole of the Perspex canopy back to, and including the astrodome.

Why build a Lancaster ?

My interests lay predominantly in vintage electronics. Commercial vintage wireless sets had limited appeal in as much as one could only receive lots of 'pop' music, so my interests turned to WWII military radio and then radar.

The Lancaster offered an impressive way in which to display working WWII radio and radar systems and other electronic aids to the general public, who in many cases were unaware of the electronic warfare of that era. It is hoped in the future to use the pilot's controls to interface with a flight simulator and which in turn would operate some of the instruments. Sound effects are also an option.

Where is it to be seen ?

The Lancaster project is now complete including some impressive Merlin Engine sound effects with working throttle controls. It can be seen at Pitstone Farm Museum, a small museum in the village of Pitstone, on the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire borders in the U.K. I am the museum manager and already have a science room containing much of the navigation equipment (some working and will be transferred to the Lancaster) as used in the Lancaster. Our Website Address is :-

http://website.lineone.net/~pitstonemus.

My E-mail address is :- n o r m a n . g r o o m @ l i n e o n e . n e t

Please remove all spaces in the above address. The format as displayed will hopefully stop junk emails

What's inside ?

The Radio section is complete with a R1155 Receiver, T1154 transmitter and the H2S 'Fishpond' warning radar plus all the auxiliary equipment. The Navigators section contains the Gee navigation equipment, H2S main Radar plus all the navigation aids used prior to the introduction of Gee & H2S. The Pilots cockpit is complete as near as possible to that in the original aircraft.

How was it constructed ?

The instruments, Radio and Navigation equipment are all original, being acquired from aero jumbles, friends and acquaintances. All the mechanical items are homemade from aluminium sheet and homemade aluminium castings. Construction is accurate down to almost the last rivet and included making the pilots seat, the control column, engine control quadrant and all other mechanical items and fittings.

For photos of this project or details of other projects, click on any of the following:-

PHOTOS OF THE LANCASTER PROJECT (1st website September 2001)

MARCH 2002 -AIRBORNE INTERCEPTION RADAR AI-MK4

AIRBORNE INTERCEPTION RADAR AI MK8.

APRIL 2004, AIRBORNE INTERCEPTION RADAR AI MK10 (MODIFIED VERSION OF AMERICAN SCR 720).

AIR-TO SURFACE RADAR ASV MKII.

APRIL 2003 -AMERICAN SCR269 RADIO COMPASS.

AUGUST 2003, SOUND SIMULATOR FOR THE 4 MERLIN ENGINES.

I am a member of the Duxford Radio Society based at the Imperial War Museum Duxford. Visit their site at :- http://www.duxfordradiosociety.org

If you are interested in WWII Radio, Radar and other electronic equipment visit the Defence Electronics History Society (DEHS) at :-

http://www.dehs.org.uk

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