Just too late to see service during the Second World War, the Lincoln became the mainstay of Bomber Command post-war, but was destined for a short front line career as the Cold War and the jet age brought the shortcomings of its performance into sharp relief.

The RAF’s lack of an aircraft with sufficient range to be deployed in the Pacific led the Air Ministry to suggest that AV Roe Limited design an enlarged Lancaster to meet the requirement. The resulting Lincoln first flew in June 1944. However, the need to maintain supplies of Lancasters delayed production until 1945; the first production Lincolns reaching No.57 Squadron in August. Lincolns were intended to join the Tiger Force in the bombing of Japan but the war ended before they were needed.

583 Lincolns were built to equip around twenty squadrons. However, inferior performance in the face of jet fighters and the need to be able to reach targets behind the Iron Curtain saw their partial replacement with Boeing Washingtons from 1950. The type saw action against communist terrorists in Malaya in 1950 and Mau-Mau dissidents in Kenya from 1953, but Lincolns were finally superseded by the jet V-Bomber force from 1955.

The last Lincolns in RAF service were those engaged in radar development trials with No.151 Squadron, Signals Command until May 1963.

My Australian readers might be interested in reading the Radschool Associations post about the `Long Nose` Lincoln Mk 31 that was unique to Australian manufacture. Below is an extract from the article, but it is well worth reading the full post and viewing the accompanying photographs.

The Lincoln was designed as a Lancaster replacement, initially for use on long range missions into Eastern Europe and ultimately to equip the Royal Air Force in the Pacific war against Japan. Originally dubbed the Lancaster Mk 4, the extent of the redesign was such that a new type number and name was justified. Apart from Australia, the only export customer for the Lincoln was Argentina. It was also the largest aircraft to be built in Australia. The `Long Nose` Lincoln Mk 31 was unique to Australian manufacture being modified for anti-submarine, anti-shipping and general reconnaissance. It had a 1.9 metre extension to the nose designed to accommodate a tactical navigator, and three sonobuoy operators. Direct opening observation windows which slid up and down on tracks were also in the nose. These windows were fitted with adjustable deflectors which would eliminate wind interference when the windows were open. Four 1680 HP Rolls Royce Merlin Mk 102 liquid cooled power plants were installed.

The bomb bay was modified to carry two homing torpedos, two racks of active sonobuoys and two 188 imperial gallon (855 litres) long range fuel tanks that could be jettisoned. Several freight panniers inside the bomb bay were available if needed. Total fuel capacity including bomb bay tanks was 3226 imperial gallons (14,666 litres). With an average fuel consumption of 230 imperial gallons (1045 litres) per hour the Lincoln had approximately 14 hours endurance. Maximum all up weight was 82,000 lbs (37,200 kgs).

In July 1952 the RAAF Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) conducted a test flight on a Lincoln Mk 31. The following selected extracts give some interesting insight into the role of the test pilot and into Lincoln flying generally.

Summary

Apart from poor visibility while handling on the ground, there was no great difference in handling from the normal `short nose` Lincoln. It was extremely difficult to taxy on narrow taxy tracks as the edge of the sealed surface could only be seen abeam the aircraft. From the nose position, although the bomb aimer could see ahead, he could not see the wheels so little assistance could be obtained from the front. When lined up on the runway, from either pilot’s position the edge of the runway was observed to intersect the part of the field of vision obscured by the fuselage approximately 100 yards ahead of the aircraft. This lack of visibility made the aircraft difficult to operate at night-time and with the tail down nothing ahead could be seen. The aircraft behaved generally in a very similar manner to the standard Lincoln bomber, however in a yawing or steep sideslip attitude, there was a sudden snatch on the rudder control which resulted in a complete rudder lock. The rudder would lock in the full port or starboard position according to the direction of yaw or skid. Increasing speed would relieve the problem.

Vulcan XH558 is reaching the end of her flying days and over the weekend she flew a couple of farewell fly past tours. I was able to stand on a grassy mound at Cosford in order to watch her fly by.

We heard her before we saw her because her approach was obscured by the Cold War Hangar. All of a sudden she popped out round the side of the building, tilted her wings towards the crowd and was gone…

Cosford was heaving so we went into one of the hangars to wait for the queues of traffic exiting the site to die down. We visited an art gallery which we were pleasantly suprised to find was exhibiting a different display than usual. It was an exhibition of art commemorating WWI so all the paintings were of WWI aircraft. We spent some time enjoying the paintings, of which there were several that I would happily hang on the walls in my home. By the time we had finished viewing them the traffic had eased and we were able to make our way home.

These photos are from a previous visit to Cosford when Vulcan XH558 treated us to an aerial display before heading off into the distance.

The weather was perfect for a visit to Cosford to watch Vulcan XH558 on one of its farewell flights. We allowed plenty of time to get to Cosford because I had a feeling the car parks would be fairly full. We had to queue to get in and cars were being squeezed onto every available grassy verge. The Vulcan’s pilot treated us to a spectacular ten minute air display where he banked sharply, climbed steeply and  impressed us with the noise of the Vulcan’s after burners. It was a treat to watch the world’s last flying Vulcan in one of its final flights.

After the flypast we decided to to go inside the hangars for a while until the queue of cars trying to leave the RAF museum calmed down. As I was looking at the WW1 aeroplane display, I heard one of the curators say that they hadn’t been expecting quite so many people and that the gates had had to be closed. When we went inside for a drink in the Refuel Restaurant we noticed it had run out of food. The visit wouldn’t have been complete if we hadn’t gone to see the Cosford Museum Vulcan in the Cold War Hangar; the Vulcan is a magnificent machine.

The Avro Vulcan is an iconic example of British aerospace engineering at its world-beating best. Its impressive list of technical achievements includes being the first successful large delta wing aircraft, leading directly to Concorde and the Space Shuttle, and delivering performance and agility so close to a jet fighter’s that it was given a fighter-style control column in place of the traditional bomber pilot’s yoke. Today that agility allows XH558 to deliver amazing air displays, which unfortunately must finish this year as her time as a flying aircraft draws to an end.

But XH558 is not just for the pleasure of seeing her giant delta profile appear low over the trees and pull up near vertically as she climbs high into the sky. She is an iconic example of that remarkable period of intense post-war innovation that made British aviation technology the envy of the world. As the many displays at her hangar demonstrate, this allowed her to play a fascinating role in keeping the peace during the Cold War, a period of terrifying global tension. It’s a truly remarkable story.

On Sunday the 1st June the National Service (RAF) veterans annual parade took place at Cosford.  One of the events billed was a fly past by the Battle of Britain Memorial Dakota (weather permitting).  Sunday morning was glorious so we set off for Cosford in order to watch the display.

We stood on a grassy bank and, as luck would have it, one of the people nearby had a radio frequency scanner and was following the plane’s approach and from which direction it would be coming.  After we had enjoyed the plane flying over and taken a photograph or two, a gentleman who was standing next to me turned round and said to another gentlemen, ‘Your lens is making me feel inadequate’ (it was a rather large zoom lens).  A little bit of good humored lens envy going on

Today I am spending the day in Nottingham with my brother to celebrate his birthday and tomorrow is the long awaited Shutterchance meet up at Cosford Museum.  As a non shutterchancer I will be gatecrashing the meetup again

The image of a mushroom cloud and the fear of a four minute warning were ingrained in the minds of all those who lived through the Cold War in the United Kingdom.

The mushroom image created by nuclear tests was seen widely throughout the media and illustrated the threat of the Third World War.

In the event of war, Soviet missiles launched against the United Kingdom would be detected by the Ballistic Early Warning station at RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire. This would give only a four minute warning before the missiles began to fall on their intended targets.

These four minutes would have allowed the RAF V-bombers to get into the air but were insufficient to allow the public to have received a warning.

The whole concept of survival during a nuclear war was parodied in popular, music, literature, film and television.

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out Whistlestop PhotoHunt.

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out Whistlestop PhotoHunt.

I do not know with what weapons World War 3 will be fought, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones.

Albert Einstein