617 SQN. DAMBUSTERS 80TH ANNIVERSARY (F-35B LIGHTNING II AND AVRO LANCASTER B.III (SPECIAL))

The Avro Lancaster is a British, four-engine, medium-wing metal structure strategic bomber from the Second World War. The prototype flight took place in January 1941 and mass production started in the same year. The basis for the creation of the Lancaster was the Avro Manchester plane. As a drive served min. four Rolls-Royce Merlin XX V-engines with a power of 1280 HP each (Mk.I) or Bristol Hercules VI engines with a power of 1737 HP each, although other engines were also used. Serial production took place at the Avro, Metropolitan-Vickers, Armstrong Whitworth, Vickers Armstrong and Victoria Aircraft plants and by the beginning of 1946, 7377 aircraft were produced. There were four main versions of the Avro Lancaster (Mk.I, Mk.II, Mk.III and Mk.X) that were externally similar to each other. The Avro Lancaster was the RAF's primary strategic bomber, and at the same time earned a reputation for being the best. It was easy to pilot, had high lifting capacity and was characterized by a long durability of the structure. It happened that the bomber was able to complete the mission and return to base, even despite the failure of one engine. The planes entered service in December 1941 and served at the end of the war, primarily performing strategic bombing tasks. It was the Lancasters of the RAF 617 Bomber Squadron that were used in May 1943 to damage the Ruhr water dams. Technical data (Mk.I version): length: 21.11m, wingspan: 31.09m, height: 6.25m, maximum speed: 456km / h, maximum range: 4073km, maximum ceiling 6500m, armament: fixed - 8 rifles 7.7mm Browning machine guns, mounted - up to 6300 kg of bombs or one Grand Slam bomb (10000 kg) after modifying the bomb chamber.Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II (lightning) is a single-seat, single-engine multi-role fighter built by Lockheed Martin as a fifth generation machine, which is to meet the needs of the USAAF, US Navy, US Army and US Marine Corps. Originally the machine was called the X-35 JSF, but in 2006 it was changed to the F-35 Lightning II. Despite the fact that the main recipient will be the US government, the project is also co-financed by other countries, especially Great Britain, Italy and the Netherlands. The main contractors are: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. The overriding goal of the JSF idea is to create a universal machine, produced for all types of armed forces, which will allow for far-reaching standardization of spare parts and a significant reduction in costs. Finally, three versions of the F-35 (A, B and C) are to be built, which will have more than three-quarters of the same elements. The main task of the F-35 of all versions is to attack land targets, perform the tasks of a battlefield plane, air combat and electronic combat. It should be noted that the F-35 is designed for conflicts of a low intensity, in contrast to its larger "relative" F-22. Which does not change the fact that thanks to the propulsion unit used (Pratt-Whitney F135 engines), avionics and Stealth properties, it is one of the most modern multi-role aircraft in the world. The first serial F-35 was made in February 2006. Until now (2013), 63 aircraft of this type have been built. Technical data (version F-35A): Maximum speed: 1930 km / h, maximum ceiling 18288 m, maximum range: 2220 km, armament: fixed - one four-barrel General Dynamics GAU-22 / A 25mm cannon, suspended - up to 8100 kg load.