Lancasters, but....???

[IBob]

 

Is this a real shot of Barnes Wallace's bouncers???

 

 

[Birdseye]

According to what I've found, the photo is a scene from the movie The Dam Busters - released in 1955.

 

 

[IBob]

According to what I've found, the photo is a scene from the movie The Dam Busters - released in 1955.

Okay, thanks. I remember my father taking me to that movie.

Years later I saw a Lancaster at the Strathallan collection in Scotland. It was a lot smaller than I had expected.

 

 

[Birdseye]

The photo pops up in a few places with other claims, but I'm reasonably sure about the 1955 film reference. Size is of course relative. Appears big next to contemporary bombers, but tiny compared to the B52 at, for example Duxford.

 

 

[IBob]

The photo pops up in a few places with other claims, but I'm reasonably sure about the 1955 film reference. Size is of course relative. Appears big next to contemporary bombers, but tiny compared to the B52 at, for example Duxford.

I think I had expected something bigger than a DC3...don't know why.

On the other hand, the Lysander was much bigger than I expected...

 

 

[Deskpilot]

I doubt that there are any photos of the original planes in flight. It was a secret mission after all. My dad worked with Barns Wallis on modifying the bomb racks to hold, spin and release the bombs. Later, they both moved on to Vickers Aircraft to take their separate careers forward.

 

 

[Birdseye]

I think I had expected something bigger than a DC3...don't know why.On the other hand, the Lysander was much bigger than I expected...

In overall dimensions there wasn't much between the DC-3 and the Lancaster, but power and weight were a little..... (rounded figures)

 

Lancaster (in late war use) Span 102', Length 69', MTOW 68,000lbs, Total power 6500hp

 

DC-3 Span 95', Length 64', MTOW 25,000lbs, Total power 2200hp

 

When the film was made in 1955 a lot of the bouncing bomb details were still classified secret.

 

 

[Peter Anson]

When the film was made in 1955 a lot of the bouncing bomb details were still classified secret.

Yes, I have a DVD copy of the movie and there is never any mention of the backspin mechanism, and the shape of the bombs is wrong, but I think the "trial" sequence movies are genuine test recordings that are spliced into the movie, and in those you can see that the bombs are spinning as they fall.

When I was a kid in the 50s I had several opportunities to have a look inside Lincoln bombers at Laverton and was always astonished at how crowded they were inside. The bomb bay and wing spars meant that some part of the journey through the fuselage was done at a crawl. It was pretty dark and in my shakey memory everything seemed to be black. Reaching an exit in an emergency must have been a nightmare. The design can't have been too bad though. The UK only retired it's Shackletons in 1991.