True, I remember sitting in a Solent Mark IV Flying Boat and the cockpit of a Lancaster as a kid at MOTAT in Auckland and it was just a gutted, rubbish strewn wreck, I thought at the time it was a shame it had reached that state.
It has however since been transferred to the Sir Keith Park Memorial Aviation Display and almost completely rebuilt...
Aircraft [Avro Lancaster B Mk 7]
Name/Title
Aircraft [Avro Lancaster B Mk 7]
Object number
1964.116
Avro Lancaster B Mk 7 (modified to B Mk3). AVRO 683 B7 Lancaster - completed as NX665 after VE Day and held in storage at 38 M.U. until transferred to the French navy as WU13 in 1951. Served with 24F, 10F, 10S and finally 9S at Tontouta, New Caledonia. Presented by the French Govt. as a memorial to the NZer's who served in Bomber Command in WW II.
Now includes major components of NX666/WU05. Long range, heavy bomber, 4-engine, metal, mid-wing, monoplane with Aluminium frame and panels. Fuselage built in 5 modular sections. Power plant: 4 x 1620 HP V12 Rolls Royce Merlin engines. Accommodation: crew of 7 with pilot. The aircraft is painted black and camouflage. This Lancaster has Merlin 24/2 engines with SU carburettors driving Hamilton constant speed hydramatic A/5148 propellers.
The engine developed 1620 HP for take-off from its twin row of 6 cylinders inclined at 60°. The engines and several other components are in working order. Currently painted in 1944 Bomber Command scheme, but has a 'dual personality'. The starboard side is painted as ND752/AA-O of 75 Sqn., and the port side as PB457/SP-V of 101 Sqn. Both of these Lancasters were lost over Germany and their markings have been chosen for WU13, not because they are associated with famous aircraft or crews, but were simply two of the thousands of the Lancasters in Bomber Command. Repainted as NE181 JN-M 'The Captain's Fancy.' It served with 75 (New Zealand) squadron and completed over 100 bombing missions in Europe during WW2.
Maker & role
A. V. Roe (AVRO) Austin Works (England, estab. 1910, closed 1963)
Object type
Aircraft/Aerospace Transportation T&E/07 Distribution & Transportation Artifacts/Nomenclature
Date made
June 1945
Place made
Longbridge
Measurements
H 5900 L 21100 W 31100mm (H 232 5/16 L 830 11/16 W 1224 7/16")
Collection
Aviation
Credit line
The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT)
http://www.motat.org.nz/collections/collection-online/aircraft-avro-lancaster-b-mk-7-957/