Captured Lancaster

[Bud_Scotland]

Does anyone know the identity of the Avro Lancaster mentioned in Hans-Werner Lerche's book "luftwaffe test pilot" which was captured near the baltic a few weeks before the end of August 1944 and used by the Luftwaffe for Radar tests, He mentions it having a 2 stage supercharger which suggests its a B III Lancaster, The only one i think fits the bill is Lancaster PA988 LQ-P which was a Lancaster III and was partially abandoned which suggests it crash landed as most of the crew survived whilst on operation Stettin on the 17 August 1944.

[David Duxbury]

The standard Lancaster III was powered by a Packard-built Merlin 28s, 38s or 224s (V-1650-1) with a single stage, 2-speed supercharger. I think the only Lancaster with two-stage superchargers were Mk. VI with (RR) Merlin 85s or 87s. These were covered in some detail in a previous thread - I recall that there was much detail of individial a/c in this thread, including squadron allocations and fates. However it is probably more likely that the German witness was referring to an aircraft with 2-speed engines.
David D

[brewerjerry]

Hi
It is possible the term two stage may just be a language translation issue,and therefore a red herring, and it is still a 'standard' lancaster.
There is a whole thread here on LEMB, just join to see the photos.
http://www.luftwaffe-experten.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=1059
cheers
Jerry

[alieneyes]

The only one i think fits the bill is Lancaster PA988 LQ-P which was a Lancaster III and was partially abandoned which suggests it crash landed as most of the crew survived whilst on operation Stettin on the 17 August 1944.

Bud,

Judging from the photographs on Søren Flensted's site it seems pretty safe to discount this a/c:

http://www.flensted.eu.com/1944098.shtml

Dave