Avro Lancaster vs Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Comparison

Aviation | Utilities | Side-by-Side Comparison

Direct side-by-side comparison of two aircraft.

Your selected aircraft are compared in side-by-side arrangement below. You can always go back and Compare any two aircraft in our database. Some entries contain '0', 'not available', or an 'NA' value. This is more common with conceptual, experimental, and x-plane designs. Rotary-wing system (i.e. helicopters) values include main rotor diameter as part of width/wingspan measurement. UAV entries may display crew values as '0', not taking into account ground-based controllers.

Subjects

Avro Lancaster B.Mk I
Four-Engined Heavy Bomber / Reconnaissance Aircraft

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress
Four-Engined Heavy Bomber Aircraft

Basics

ORIGIN
United Kingdom

ORIGIN
United States

YEAR
1942 [Diff.+5 yrs]

YEAR
1937 [Diff.-5 yrs]

CREW
7

CREW
10

PRODUCTION
7,377 units [Diff.-5,354]

PRODUCTION
12,731 units [Diff.+5,354]

Dimensions

LENGTH
69.5 ft (21.2 m) [Diff.-5.2 ft]

LENGTH
74.7 ft (22.8 m) [Diff.+5.2 ft]

WIDTH/SPAN
102.0 ft (31.1 m) [Diff.-1.7 ft]

WIDTH/SPAN
103.7 ft (31.6 m) [Diff.+1.7 ft]

HEIGHT
20.0 ft (6.1 m) [Diff.+0.9 ft]

HEIGHT
19.1 ft (5.8 m) [Diff.-0.9 ft]

Relative Size Comparison

Shapes below depict aircraft from wingtip-to-wingtip / nose-to-tail assuming aircraft are being viewed from overhead perspective (the nose pointing towards the top of the screen). Helicopter widths include main rotor diameter. If any dimensional values are "NA" in the database then the presented shapes may appear skewed.

Avro Lancaster B.Mk I

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress

Weights

EMPTY WT.
36,901 lb (16,738 kg) [Diff.+765 lb]

EMPTY WT.
36,136 lb (16,391 kg) [Diff.-765 lb]

M.T.O.W.
69,999 lb (31,751 kg) [Diff.-2,004 lb]

M.T.O.W.
72,003 lb (32,660 kg) [Diff.+2,004 lb]

Installed Power

4 x Rolls-Royce Merlin XX V12 water-cooled, inline piston engines developing 1,280 horsepower each driving three-bladed propeller units.

4 x Wright Cyclone R-1820-97 radial piston engines developing 1,200 horsepower each driving three-bladed propeller units.

Performance

SPEED
287 mph (462 kph) [Diff.0 mph]

RANGE
2,529 miles (4,070 km) [Diff.+528 miles]

RANGE
2,001 miles (3,220 km) [Diff.-528 miles]

CEILING
24,508 ft (7,470 m) [Diff.-11,089 feet]

CEILING
35,597 ft (10,850 m) [Diff.+11,089 feet]

Armament

STANDARD:
2 x 0.303 caliber (7.7mm) Browning machine guns in nose turret.
2 x 0.303 caliber (7.7mm) Browning machine guns in dorsal turret.
4 x 0.303 caliber (7.7mm) Browning machine guns in tail turret.

OPTIONAL:
4,000lb to 22,000lb of internal ordnance (conventional drop bombs) or specialized mission equipment (22,000lb Grand Slam, 12,000lb "Tallboy" or 9,250lb "Upkeep" bombs).

STANDARD (Primary Models):
1 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun in left-front "cheek" position.
1 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun in right-front "cheek" position.
2 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns in powered dorsal turret
1 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun at radio operator station (removed on later models).
2 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns in powered Sperry ball turret.
1 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun in left waist position
1 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun in right waist position
2 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns in tail gun position

B-17G (In Addition to Above):
2 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns in powered Bendix chin turret

OPTIONAL:
Maximum internal bombload of 7,983 kg (17,600 lb).

Going Further

View Entry
(Avro Lancaster)

View Entry
(Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress)

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