Avro 679 Manchester

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Contents

Type Description

• Type 679 Manchester Mk.I
• Twin engined medium bomber to Specification P.13/36 to meet the requirements of OR.41 for a Medium Bomber. A mid-wing cantilever monoplane, the fuselage was of stressed skin monocoque construction, built up with transverse channel section formers (frames), stiffened by longitudinal stringers or longerons throughout, over which an external skin of aluminium alloy was flush-riveted for a smooth external surface. Because of its size, the fuselage was divided into five sections; the nose, front centre section, centre section, rear centre section and rear fuselage. The wings were of a two-spar construction, the ribs being made of aluminium alloys. The tail shared a similar construction to the wing, initially featuring a twin fin-and-rudder configuration that provided good vision for the dorsal gunner.
  Normal crew was seven: the cockpit housed the pilot, co-pilot and navigator's position underneath the canopy, and these crew members were provided with all-round vision. The wireless operator was seated aft of the navigator. The bomb aimer/nose gunner's station was housed beneath the forward turret, bomb aiming being conducted using optical sights housed in this compartment; the crew was completed by a dorsal and tail gunner. For crew comfort on lengthy missions, a rest area was situated just to the rear of the main cabin. The aircraft's undercarriage was entirely retractable via hydraulic systems, or in an emergency, a backup air system. The doors to the bomb bay were also operated by these systems, an additional safety measure was installed to ensure that the bombs could not be dropped if the doors were shut. All fuel was contained in several self-sealing fuel tanks within the wings in order to keep the fuselage free to accommodate the bomb bay, which covered nearly two-thirds of the underside of the fuselage, with a maximum bomb load of 11,200 lb.
  Defensive armament consisted of three Nash and Thompson hydraulically-operated turrets, the FN-5 two-gun nose turret, the FN-7 two-gun dorsal turret and FN-4A four-gun rear turret, all with .303 Browning machine guns. The first prototype featured a wing span of 80 ft 2 in and a 28 ft span twin-finned tail, while the second prototype featuring and additional central fin; the addition of a FN-21A two-gun retractable "dustbin" ventral turret directly behind the bomb bay was considered and tested on the second prototype, but did not feature on production aircraft. Built to Specification 19/37, the production standard aircraft featured a 90 ft 1 in span wing (Avro Works Mod No. 119) and, from the 21st aircraft, a new 33 ft span tail with triple fins (Avro Works Mod No. 108). Two 1,760 h.p. Rolls-Royce Vulture powerplants.

• Type 679 Manchester Mk.IA
• As the later Mk.I but with the outer tail fins increased in height and made more elliptical in shape and the central fin was removed. Additionally, a four-gun rear turret was also adopted. Surviving Avro 679 Manchester I aircraft were progressively modified to Avro 679 Manchester IA standard.

Projected Variants

• Type 679 Manchester Mk.II
• As Mk.IA with two 2,100 h.p Napier Sabre I powerplants.

• Type 679 Manchester Mk.IIA
• As Mk.IA with two 2,520 h.p. Bristol Centaurus powerplants.

• Type 679 Manchester Mk.III
• As Mk.IA with four 1,145 h.p. Rolls-Royce Merlin X powerplants, increased wingspan and triple fins. Became the Type 683 Lancaster.

Production References

1. Avro Aircraft Since 1908, A.J. Jackson (Putnam, 1965 and 1990)
2. Avro Manchester, Robert Kirby (Midland Publishing Ltd., 1995)
3. Air Britain RAF Aircraft Register Series, Various Volumes (Air-Britain Publications)
4. https://www.lancaster-archive.com/
5. 21st Profile No 6
6. RAF Air Historical Branch: Serial Ledger (Dept of Archive and Aviation Records, RAF Museum, Hendon, Records MF-1 thru 5)
7. RAF Air Historical Branch: Contract Delivery Cards (Dept of Archive and Aviation Records, RAF Museum, Hendon, Records MFC-78-8-2)
8. RAF Air Historical Branch: Aircraft Movement Cards, Form 78 (Dept of Archive and Aviation Records, RAF Museum, Hendon, Records MFC-77-15-125) and available at https://www.lancasterbombers.net/form-78-aircraft-movement-cards/