The Little World

Finishing the Avro Lancaster in RCAF rescue colours has called up a series of questions about it as a real aircraft. I’ve no idea whether my answers are correct, but here goes anyway…

a. Why did the RCAF have Lancasters?

Because they were part of Bomber Command in the UK in the second world war. They crewed their own aircraft as well as being part of other crews. They were trained in the use of this 4-engined bomber.

b. Where did the bombers come from?

Avro in England for a start, but eventually Avro plants in Canada produced planes in North America. Many of them were sent to the UK near the end of the European war and quite a few were surplus in 1946. New aircraft were eventually transferred back to Canada with air convoys of their crew.

c. Did Canada have anyone to bomb after this time?

Not really. The Korean war was not a bomber campaign and Canada did not participate in the Malayan Emergency or the Indonesian Confrontation. The Soviets were never menaced by the RCAF from continental Canada. They just had a number of fairly new Lancasters to use up.

d. Why use a bomber as a search and rescue aircraft?

Because it can go a long way out to sea or over the north of Canada – it has a great range. It can also heft heavy search radar equipment and lights, given that there need not be a load of bombs in the bomb bay.

e. But it can’t land at sea like a seaplane or flying boat…

No, but it can drop air/sea rescue packages to mariners or those lost on land. It can orbit a rescue site for a long time, calling other craft or rescuers to the place. It can drop more than one rescue pod in case one doesn’t deploy properly. It is a big radar reflector for others to home in on.

It is an all weather and 24 hr plane – remember it was a night bomber over Europe in very tough conditions.

So that’s why the venerable Lanc was used as long as it was. The rescue planes went through a long series of livery changes – this one is the late 1950’s and there were a lot of airframe mods during the service life. Several of them still survive as museum exhibits, and some are undergoing re-conversion to wartime livery.

I think this one is just fine as a peacetime guardian.