Avro Lancaster Blank Greeting Card by Stephen Brown
Brought in to existence by mating four Rolls Royce Merlin engines with the fuselage of the earlier Manchester, the Lancaster was not supposed to have been produced as the Air Ministry considered there not to be enough Merlin engines to power the types then in service. Avro’s chief designer, Roy Chadwick was not a man to shy away from a challenge and when the prototype Lancaster, BT308 was wheeled out it proved an instant hit. Further development and a second prototype resulted in the twin-fin & rudder as in the final variants.
Stephen Brown’s aviation birthday card shows Lancasters on the return journey, escorted by Spitfires.
