Avro Lancaster

There's a few DVD's about Just Jane and The Pantons:

primetimedvds.co.uk/shop.php?cPath=9_36&...c8469v3i9slkatein6r1

I've moved the runway discussion to the EK thread as its more relevant there:
/community/showthread.php?328-East-Kirkby

Does any one remember or know what became of the Icing Research Lancaster displayed at the Farnborough airshow during the mid 1950's.

I have a black and white picture of it taken from the starboard side and the final part of the readable number ends in -29-1

The min upper gun turret has been replaced by vertical fin with what appears to be a deicing or icing spray rig in front of this vertical fin.

This was one of the apparent dead ends in looking into the RAF Enstone Black Lancasters.

This one?

www.aero-pics.co.uk/warbirds/Lincoln%20B...021975%20D083-03.htm

That's the one but without the fin unless it's masked by the wing tip. The upper wing surfaces in my picture have large white striping. Tks

Righto, then it's Avro Lincoln B.2 RF342, civil registration G-APRJ, which was fitted with the nose of Lancaster TW911.

Whilst used by Napier for icing research she carried Test Aircraft Serial G-29-1 (G-29-x serials being assigned to Napier test aircraft).
She was fitted with a rig on top of the fuselage to which different aerofoil sections could be attached for tests, water was sprayed onto these in flight and ice buildup observed.
This is what you're seeing as an extra "fin".

www.flickr.com/photos/34201808@N00/3122310069

www.flickr.com/photos/m0nuz/6844986238/

As far as I'm aware TW911's nose is now in the USA and the remainder of RF342 is now with the Australian National Aviation Museum.

All the best,
PB

It's also worth noting that though clearly not the aircraft you mention above, that Lancaster PA474 now of the RAF BBMF was also a test-bed which carried large wing sections vertically on its fuselage top.
It conducted trials with Handley Page laminar flow wing sections at the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield

I think one of the Flickr images has photos of PA474 in that configuration linked from it.

Ah, here it is:

www.flickr.com/photos/m0nuz/6844986770/in/photostream/

Thanks PB, very nice, not seen those before, or the others of Lincoln G-29-1.

RF342/G-29-1 has had quite a convoluted life, this is about as good a brief summarisation as any I've seen,

07/08 From Lancaster-archive/Forum: If the nose section at Paine Field is TW911 – and I don’t know that it is or it isn’t – then the writeup quoted by Wayne is only partly right. After its usefulness as a testbed was over, Lancaster TW911 was scrapped, but the nose was retained and fitted to Lincoln RF342. This ‘Lancoln’ or ‘Lincaster’ soldiered on for quite a few years with Napiers (jet engines) and then the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield until it too was retired, to the British Historic Aircraft Museum at Southend. When BHAM folded, the exhibits were auctioned and RF342 began a chequered career of different owners and many different locations, losing bits with almost every move. The nose – from TW911 - went first, I think, to store at Bournemouth, the undercarriage probably went with Kermit Weeks’ in Florida and the engines somewhere else. Being Merlin 68 or 68A with the annular radiators, they wouldn’t be much use for Lancaster, Spitfire, Hurricane or Mustang rebuilds. Finally the mortal remains of RF342 finished up at Sandtoft in Lincolnshire where it began to gently rot away. Just to round off the story, (although it should really be on Neil’s Lincoln thread), RF342 seems to have a happy ending. Last year it was bought by Mark Pilkington and shipped to his native Oz, where it is receiving love and care from him and his colleagues. It is without a nose, that having gone to the scrappie just after TW911’s was fitted but I believe that the intention is to rebuild the aircraft as an Australian Lincoln with a new nose. A long-nose B.31 would be nice.

From www.lancaster-archive.com/lanc_surv_tw911.htm

here are a few more modified lancs,
1 st as above TW 911


2nd Gust research aircraft, ME 540


3rd RR dart testbed NG 465


4th Mambo Lancaster ND784


5th Lancastrian with Avon engines VM732


6th Lancastrian with Ghost engines VM 703/R


7th Lancastrian VM 742 with Nene engines


Regards Ian ,

C/O KRUL