Bomber Command (66 page)

Handley Page HAMPDEN.
Type: twin-engined medium bomber; crew: 4; length: 53.3 feet; height: 14.9 feet; wingspan: 69.3 feet; maximum loaded weight: 22,500 lb; ceiling: 20,000 feet; cruising speed: 155 mph; maximum speed: 243 mph; bombload: 4,000 lb (with fuel for 1,200 miles)/2,000 lb (with fuel for 1,885 miles); armament: single fixed and single free .303 in nose, single or twin free .303s in rear and mid-under positions; engines: Pegasus XVIII.

Avro MANCHESTER.
Type: twin-engined heavy-medium bomber; crew: 6; length: 68.8 feet; height: 19.5 feet; wingspan: 90.1 feet; maximum weight: 50,000 lb; ceiling: 19,200; cruising speed: 185 mph; maximum speed: 258 mph; bombload: 10,350 lb (with fuel for 1,200 miles)/8,100 lb (with fuel for 1,630 miles); armament: twin .303s in front and mid-upper turrets, quad .303s in rear turret; engines: Vulture II.

Short STIRLING III.
Type: four-engined heavy bomber; crew: 7; length: 87 feet; height: 22.75 feet; wingspan: 99 feet; maximum loaded weight: 70,000 lb; ceiling: 17,000 feet; cruising speed: 200 mph; maximum speed: 270 mph; bombload: 14,000 lb (with fuel for 590 miles)/2,010 lb (with fuel for 3,575 miles); armament: twin .303s in front and mid-upper turrets, quad .303s in rear turret; engines: Hercules VI.

Handley Page HALIFAX HI
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.
Type: four-engined heavy bomber; crew: 7; length: 70.1 feet; height: 20.75 feet; wingspan: 104 feet; maximum loaded weight: 50,000 lb; ceiling: 20,000 feet; cruising speed: 225 mph; maximum speed: 277 mph; bombload: 13,000 lb (with fuel for 980 miles)/6,250 lb (with fuel for 2,005 miles); armament: single or twin .303s in front turret, quad .303s in mid-upper turret, quad .303s in rear turret; engines: Hercules XVI.

Avro LANCASTER I and III.
Type: four-engined heavy bomber; crew: 7 (sometimes 8 in PFF aircraft and 6 Group aircraft with ventral turrets); length: 68.9 feet; height: 19.5 feet; wingspan: 102 feet; maximum loaded weight: 68,000 lb; cruising speed: 216 mph; maximum speed: 266 mph; ceiling: 20,000 feet; bombload: 14,000 lb (with fuel for 1,660 miles); armament: twin .303s in front and mid-upper turrets, quad .303s in rear turret; engines: Merlin 22, 28 or 38
²¹
.

De Havilland MOSQUITO Mk.IV.
Type: twin-engined light bomber; crew: 2; length: 40.5 feet; height: 12.5 feet; wingspan: 54.17 feet; maximum loaded weight: 21,462 lb; ceiling: 33,000 feet; cruising speed: 265 mph; maximum speed: 362 mph; bombload: 2,000 lb (with fuel for 1,620 miles) – some aircraft were modified to carry a 4,000-lb bomb; armament: none; engines: Merlin 21 or 23.

GERMAN AIRCRAFT

Messerschmitt BF 110G.
Type: twin-engined night-fighter; crew: 3; length: 42.8 feet; height: 13.7 feet; wingspan: 53.4 feet; maximum weight: 21,800 lb; ceiling: 26,250 feet; cruising speed: 250 mph; maximum speed: 342 mph; range: 1,305 miles; armament: two 30-mm cannon and two 20-mm cannon in nose, twin 7.9 mm machine-guns in rear; some aircraft fitted with
schräge Musik
in 1944; engines: Daimler-Benz DB 605B.
²²

Messerschmitt BF 109G.
Type: single-engined day-fighter used as ‘Wild Boar’, July 1943–March 1944; crew: 1; length: 29 feet; height: 8.2 feet; wingspan: 32.5 feet; maximum weight: 7,491 lb; ceiling: 37,890 feet; cruising speed: 260 mph; maximum speed: 386 mph; range: 620 miles; armament: one 30-mm cannon or one 20-mm cannon plus two 13-mm machine-guns; engine: Daimler-Benz DB 605A.

Junkers Ju88C.
Type: twin-engined night-fighter; crew: 2 or 3; length: 49.4 feet; height: 16.6 feet; wingspan: 65.8 feet; maximum weight: 27,225 lb; ceiling: 32,480 feet; cruising speed: 263 mph; maximum speed: 307 mph; range: 1,230 miles; armament: three 20-mm cannon and three 7.9-mm machine-guns in nose, one 13-mm machine-gun in rear of cockpit; some aircraft in 1944 fitted with
schräge Musik
²³
; engines: 2 Junkers Jumo 211J.

US AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE WITH BOMBER COMMAND