Avro Lancaster

Uncle Lancaster ED480, WS-U, 'Uncle', 9 Squadron, RAF, Waddington, early 1943. A fairly typical mid-war Lancaster, 'Uncle' is unusual only in that the individual aircraft code letter, U, is decidedly smaller than the unit code letters, WS, and is repeated on the nose. This was common in 9 Squadron at the time. The nose art is a pawnbroker's symbol.
	Dave's Dive Lancaster W4851, GT-E, 'Dave's Dive', 156 Squadron, 8 (PFF) Group, RAF, Warboys, April 1943. Other than its 'Saint' nose art, this is a very typical Lancaster of the mid-war period.
The Lady in Red Lancaster JA852, WS-L, 'The Lady in Red', 9 Squadron, RAF, Bardney, mid-1943. Like 'Uncle' above, this is another 9 Squadron aircraft, distinguished from typical Lancasters of the time only by the individual aircraft code letter, L in this case, being smaller than the squadron code letters.
	Ruhr Express Lancaster KB700, LQ-Q, 'Ruhr Express', 405 Squadron, RCAF, Gransden Lodge, late 1943. Another fairly typical Lancaster, 'Ruhr Express', a reference to the industrial heart of Germany, uses an ever so slightly different font for its code letters, the Qs being noticeably rounder usual, perhaps because it was built in Canada.
Royal Australian Air Force Lancaster W4783, AR-G "G for George", 460 Squadron, RAAF, 1943. A European Theatre RAAF scheme, "G for George" is a fairly typical mid-war Lancaster sporting an impressive (but incompete at the point in time depicted) bomb tally on its port side forward. This particular aircraft is preserved to this day at the Australian War Memorial.
	Coded Tail Lancaster R5868, PO-S 'S-Sugar', 467 Squadron, Waddington, 1944. The RAF's second highest scoring 'heavy', 'S-Sugar' features an extremely unusual coding layout with yellow-outlined red letters and the individual aircraft code repeated on the tail. R5868 is preserved at the RAF Museum, Hendon, just outside London.
Daylight Tactical Markings Lancaster LM624, DX-A, 57 Squadron, 1944. In 1944, RAF night bombers began to sport identification markings on their tails for daylight operations. This scheme features red coding with yellow outlining and red/black tactical markings on the tail indicating a flight leader.
	Formation Visibility Lancaster ME499, AS-D, 166 Squadron, Kirmington, 1944. The yellow wingtips and tails were an experiment by No. 1 Group to aid in formation visibility, much like the scheme above.

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