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On of the finest exhibits of the IWM in London is the nose section of an Avro 683 Lancaster Mk 1.

Starting at the nose, the bomb aimer had two positions to man. His primary location was lying prone on the floor of the nose of the aircraft, with access to the controls for the bombsight head in front, with the bombsight computer on his left and bomb release selectors on the right.

He would also use his view out of the large transparent perspex nose cupola to assist the navigator with map reading. To man the Frazer Nash FN5 nose turret, he simply had to stand up and he would be in position behind the triggers of his twin .303 in (7.7 mm) guns. The bomb aimer’s position contained the nose parachute exit in the floor.

Moving backwards, on the roof of the bomb bay the pilot and flight engineer sat side-by-side under the expansive canopy, with the pilot sitting on the left on a raised portion of the floor. The flight engineer sat on a collapsible seat (known as a second dicky seat) to the pilot’s right, with the fuel selectors and gauges on a panel behind him and to his right.

Behind these crew members, and behind a curtain fitted to allow him to use light to work, sat the navigator. His position faced to port with a large chart table in front of him. An instrument panel showing the Airspeed, altitude and other details required for navigation was mounted on the side of the fuselage above the chart table.

The radios for the wireless operator were mounted on the left-hand end of the chart table, facing towards the rear of the aircraft. Behind these radios, facing forwards, on a seat at the front of the main spar sat the wireless operator. To his left was a window, and above him was the astrodome, used for visual signalling and also by the navigator for celestial navigation.

Avro 683 Lancaster
Role: Heavy bomber
Manufacturer: Avro
Designed by: Roy Chadwick
First flight: 8 January 1941
Introduced: 1942
Retired: 1963 (Canada)
Primary users: Royal Air Force Royal, Canadian Air Force
Number built: 7,377
Unit cost: £s;45-50,000 when introduced (£s;1.3-1.5 million in 2005 currency)
Developed from: Avro Manchester
Variants: Avro Lancastrian, Avro Lincoln, Avro York

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