Simflying The Avro Lancaster Heavy Bomber Sitting Behind Your Own Computer

The day I write this I am 64 years old and so is the peace that followed World War II. This means that I'm from "after the war", and that's the way I want to keep it! It also means that I only saw the Avro Lancaster WW-2bomber in post-war fly-by's which is a scarce enough happening anyway, considering that there are only two (!) flyable Lancasters left in the whole wide world. There's very little airtime to be shared among the enthusiastic candidates, so there are probably not even a dozen people who get to fly a real Lancaster from the left seat every once in a while.

The closest us lowly earth dwellers can come to flying a "true" Lancaster, is via simulation. I am dedicated to Microsofts Flight Simulator X, in which I fly "my own" version of the Lancaster B1, a hybrid based on the "Wings of Power" version for exterior and flight model, and for the instrument panel on just about everything up to and including not only the kitchen sink but also the bath tub, the toilet bowl and the hot water boiler (grin)!. From dozens of available panels and gauges that I collected in years of flight simming, I made a strictly individual panel version.

Panel rearranging required!

I've got two reasons to design my own simulator panels. Mainly because there's no out of the box Avro Lancaster panel available that looks to my liking. Secondly because existing panels put the simulated pilots position somewhere in the lateral center of the cockpit, like straight behind the engine controls. That's no good: it takes away much of the illusion or immersion. Although my real world flying experiences are sadly confined to light single engine aircraft like Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee, I know that Lancaster pilots did not sit with their valuable parts shoved painfully into the throttle quadrant of their Avro Lancaster bomber!

My own panels deliver a much more natural pilots position, and considerably enlarged gauges. Simulation, including flight simulation, is illusion - and I don't give a fig about the panel lay-out being realistic: I want it to look and feel realistic within the confines of a computer screen!!

The physical controls

In order to create a sufficient level of realism, flying your digital Lanc with the keyboard or mouse won't do. If you can even remotely afford it, a steering yoke is an absolute must, with a set of pedals as a perfect second. Fortunately such hardware add-ons are available in a wide price range, from very sturdy but equally expensive, to somewhat wobbly but easily in the affordability sector of most of us.

Concerning this subject I have a confession to make. Some six years ago I got the cheapest yoke and pedals available, and I still use them without a problem and to my continuing joy! In those years I must have bought a couple of thousand dollars worth of other simulator expansions, but I never saw any reason for discarding my old and faithful pedals/yoke set! Sure, eventually I'll replace them, even if it is only on account of normal wear and tear from almost daily use, but it's not necessary yet.

A very flustered face!

You'll never hear me say that a relatively simple computer simulation like MS Flight Simulator can ever give you the joy of flying the real thing, but sometimes it comes pretty darn close. I've made lots of simulated landings under conditions that turned my whole head red with concentration, and sweaty with almost real fear! Nor am I the only one with such experiences. I think it was around 2004 that an RAF flight crew performed an MS-simulated famous Dam Busters raid. Those jet pilots and "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime" types left the simulator after their last more or less successful flight with a healthy respect for Microsofts simulation software, and for the good old Avro Lancaster. You won't see them looking down on "that game" or "that old bomber" anymore!

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