LANCASTER BOMB RELEASE TRIGGER & LEAD

Once the Lancaster’s bomb bay was loaded with its high explosives and incendiaries, the Bomb Aimer would pre-select the order of their release on the Bomb Selector’s 16 Station Control Panel.

Often carrying a mixed and varied load of ordinance, this careful preselection ensured the Lancaster maintained stable flight at the moment of release. Depending on the nature of the target, the Bomb Aimer would also preselect the pattern of their impact. 

Long, narrow targets such as bridges, railways or shipping would be bombed with a ‘stick’ pattern - with the Bomb Aimer triggering a set number of bombs over predetermined intervals.

Concentrated targets such as factories and railway yards were bombed in a cluster grouping whilst single targets, such as heavily fortified U Boat pens or dams, might see the single release of a 12,000 lb. Tallboy or 22,000 lb. Grand Slam ‘concrete buster’. 

The versatility of the Lancaster was such that it was chosen to equip 617 Squadron to undergo modification to carry the "Bouncing bomb" designed by Barnes Wallis for Operation Chastise, the attack on German Ruhr Valley dams.

With bomb bay doors removed and the "Bouncing Bomb" suspended on a vee-shaped strut, it was rotated at 500 rpm via a drive belt to a hydraulic motor. Two Aldis lamps were fitted in the rear bomb bay fairing and when shone on the relatively smooth waters of the dam's reservoirs, the light beams converged into a single spot to indicate the correct hight for bomb release.

By 1945, a total of 33 Lancasters had been modified to deploy the 22,000 lb Grand Slam bomb - which was so heavy that the bomb and the Lancaster itself weighed roughly the same. Lancasters flew a total of 156,000 sorties and dropped over 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945.

With its Air Ministry AM & Crown markings, this is a rare piece of RAF aviation history with the Trigger Switch still operational and both trigger and lead able to be removed from display stand. With a highly detailed model of the Avro Lancaster above, this would make an incredible gift for any aviation enthusiast!

* Please note that this original Recovery Curios Aircraft Display is also available in a Super Detailed, Large Scale 1/48 version with some astounding and simply awesome detail. Click on the ‘1/48 Scale Model Option' at the top of this page to order.

This Avro Lancaster Instrument comes complete with detailed Scale Model, Mango Wood Stand & Plaque plus Printed Fact Sheet featuring photo of instrument in the aircraft cockpit.

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