Avro Lincoln

what is it?

The Avro Type 694 Lincoln is a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were initially known as the Lancaster IV and V; these were renamed Lincoln I and II. It was the last piston-engined bomber operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF); the later Avro Shackleton, though piston-engined, served in maritime patrol rather than bomber roles. The Lincoln attained operational status in August 1945.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · 36.6 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 499 km/htop speed
• size 37.2 tmax take-off weight
• built 604made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 82 years ago, in 1944.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 36.6 m: about 8 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 6 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🏔️Can fly 1.1× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1944-06-09

introduced

1945

retired

1963

status

retired

number built

604

role

heavy bomber

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Avro

engines

4× Rolls-Royce Merlin 85 or Packard-Merlin 68 / Rolls-Royce Merlin

crew

7

length

23.9 m

wingspan

36.6 m

height

5.3 m

max take-off weight

37.2 t

top speed

499 km/h

cruise speed

346 km/h

range

—

ceiling

9,296 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.