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Lincoln
A line up of Avro Lincoln B IIs (B 2)
Type	bomber
Manufacturer	A V Roe
Designed by	Roy Chadwick
Maiden flight	9 June 1944
Retired	1963
Primary users	RAF RAAF
Number built	604
Developed from	Avro Lancaster
Variants	Avro Shackleton Avro Tudor

The Avro Type 694 Lincoln was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War, first flying on 9 June 1944 and entering service in August 1945, too late to be used in action. The last piston-powered bomber built for the RAF, a total of 604 were built.

Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational service 3 Commercial Service 4 Variants 5 Operators 6 General Specifications (Lincoln B 1) 7 References 8 Related content

The Avro Lincoln was a development of the Avro Lancaster, built to the Air Ministry Specification B.14/43, having a larger wingspan with two-stage supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin 85 engines, bigger fuselage with bigger fuel and bomb loads. As a result, it could fly higher and further than the Lancaster. The prototype Lincoln was assembled at Manchester's Ringway Airport and made its maiden flight from there on 9 June 1944.

The type was intended for use in the Second World War in the Far East as part of Tiger Force and was known initially as the Lancaster IV and V (the V having the Merlin 68A engines), but was renamed Lincoln B 1 and B 2 respectively.

The Lincoln became operational too late to serve with the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth air forces in World War II. One Lincoln pattern aircraft was completed in Canada by Victory Aircraft. No. 75 Squadron RNZAF re-equipped with the type but disbanded shortly after the end of the war. In the postwar Royal Air Force, the Lincoln equipped several bomber squadrons. Nearly 600 Lincolns were built to equip 29 RAF squadrons. Due to the lack of range they were partially replaced by Boeing Washingtons which could reach targets inside the Iron Curtain. They were phased out of use in the late 1950s, and were completely replaced by jet bombers by 1963.

The Lincoln was used in combat during the 1950s in Kenya against the Mau-Mau, and Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. One was shot down by a Russian MiG-15 in 1957 as it flew to Berlin on a training flight.

The type later served with Argentina and the Royal Australian Air Force. Argentinian models were used several times during its service in several military coups. From 1946- 1949, 73 Lincolns were built in Australia - the largest aircraft ever built there.

The RAAF heavily modified their aircraft in the 1950s for use in anti-submarine warfare, giving them a 6' 6" longer nose to house acoustic submarine detection gear and its operator, larger fuel tanks to give 13 hours endurance, and modifying the bomb bay to accept torpedoes. The "long-nose" variant - officially the Mk. 31 - was particularly difficult to land at night, as the bomber used a tailwheel and the long nose obstructed the pilot's view of the runway. Only 20 were built.

The Avro Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft was derived from the Lincoln, as was the Tudor airliner, which used the wings of the Lincoln married to a new pressurized fuselage.

Two Lincoln B2s were operated by D. Napier & Son Ltd. for icing research from 1948 to 1962.

A transport conversion of the Lincoln B.2, using the streamlined nose and tail cones of the Lancastrian and a ventral cargo pannier, was known as the Avro 695 Lincolnian.

One Lincoln Freighter converted by Airflight Ltd was used on the Berlin Air Lift by Surrey Flying Services Ltd. In addition, one Argentine example was converted to a Lincolnian by Avro at Langar. Four Lincolnian conversions by Field Aircraft Services for use as meat haulers in Paraguay, were not delivered and subsequently scrapped.

• Lincoln B 1 : Long-range bomber version for the RAF. Powered by four 1,750-hp (1305-kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin 85 inline piston engines.
• Lincoln B 2 : Long-range bomber version for the RAF. Powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlin 66, 68A and 300 inline piston engines. Built by Avro, Armstrong-Whitworth and Vickers-Metropolitan
• Lincoln Mk 3 : The Lincoln Mk.4 was intended to be a maritime reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare aircraft. The aircraft later became the Avro Shackleton.
• Lincoln Mk 15 : This designation was given to one aircraft, built by Victory Aircraft in Canada.
• Lincoln Mk 30 : Long-range bomber version for the RAAF.
• Lincoln Mk 30A : Long-range bomber version for the RAAF, fitted with a longer nose.
• Lincoln Mk 31 : Anti-submarine warfare, maritime reconnaissance version for the RAAF.

•  Argentina: Argentine Air Force
•  Australia: RAAF
•  Canada: RCAF
•  United Kingdom: RAF

General characteristics

• Crew: 7 (pilot, flight engineer/co-pilot, navigator, wireless operator,front gunner/bomb aimer, dorsal and rear gunners)
• Capacity: up to 22,000 lb (6,350 kg) of bombs
• Length: 78 ft 34 in (23.86 m)
• Wingspan: 120 ft (36.58 m)
• Height: 17 ft 34 in (5.27 m)
• Empty weight: 43,400 lb (19,686 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 75,000 lb (34,019 kg)
• Powerplant: 4× Rolls-Royce Merlin 85 piston engines, 1,750 hp (1,305 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 295 mph (at 15,000 ft) (475 km/h (at 4,750 m))
• Range: 3,580 miles (1,470 miles with maximum bomb-load) ()
• Service ceiling: 30,500 ft (9,295 m)

Armament

2 .50 in (12.7 mm) MGs in nose, dorsal and tail turrets, alternatively twin 20 mm Hispano cannon in dorsal turret.

• Franks, Richard A. The Avro Lancaster, Manchester and Lincoln. Bedford, United Kingdom: SAM Publications, 2000. ISBN 0-9533465-3-6.
• diggerhistory.info
• British Aircraft of World War II

Related development

Avro Lancaster - Avro Tudor - Avro Shackleton

Comparable aircraft

B-29 Superfortress - B-32 Dominator - B-50 Superfortress - Tupolev Tu-4 - Messerschmitt Me 264

Designation sequence

• Type 691 - Type 693 - Type 694 - Type 695 - Type 696 - Type 698 - Type 706 - Type 707

Related lists

List of aircraft of the RAF

 

• Portal:British aircraft since World War II