In WWII, being wireless operator on a bomber was not a nice job. Fellow crew members were the pilot, navigator, engineer, bomb aimer, mid-upper gunner and rear gunner. The "
Lanc" was first built in 1941, on the altered chassis of a Manchester and powered by four Rolls Royce Merlin Mark X engines. To see the real plane, you need to go to
Bomber Command Museum in Nanton, Alberta. This
link shows one of the two remaining Lancasters on a ceremonial flight. This bomber has a 102-foot wingspan.
A Lanc can also be seen flying at IWM
Duxford, where the startup and takeoff make a noisy display. Nineteen Lancs from 617 Squadron carried out Operation Chastise, the
Dambusters Raid on the industrial Ruhr in 1943. The wooden model below and the radio room above are located at the
Canadian Museum of Flight in Langley.
