WW2 RAF bomber solo pilots.

[Ignition Override]

Any articles on WW2 transport or bomber missions still interest me. I see tv shows now and then on the famous Dambusters-what extra brave crewmembers, with brass balls! Since the other larger RAF bombers besides the Lancaster cockpits were designed for only one pilot, was it mostly because of the rapid training pace and lack of available extra pilots, as a recent article described, or did the commanders not want to risk a second pilot on those dangerous missions? Did pilot qualify on the Halifax, Sterling or Lancaster only after some combat experience on the smaller Blenheims, Wellingtons etc?

Thanks for any info. Someday I hope to visit the Imperial War Museum, along with others over there-never mind the liquid debriefings.:E

[CarltonBrowne the FO]

According to Aircrew , by Bruce Lewis:
The system in those days {1940}, later discontinued, was for "sprog" pilots to fly as "second dickies" to more experienced "skippers" until they became proficient enough to warrant their own aircraft and crew. Apart from taking his turn at the controls, a second pilot was also expected to help with the navigation.
This only applied in the days of the smaller bombers such as the Hampden (which had a fuselage too narrow to allow the pilot to leave his seat: the second pilot never flew the aircraft) and Wellington; with the introduction of Flight Engineers the second pilot was almost entirely abandoned.
By the time the Lancaster entered service, the newly qualified pilot joined a crew during training, was first pilot from the outset and flew with the same crew until completing a tour (usually 30 missions). However, given an average loss rate of 4% per mission, this gave a less than 30% chance of surviving a tour. Thus, very few pilots would have the opportunity to move from the Wellington to any other aircraft. As an extreme example, Guy Gibson had already flown 173 missions before the Dams Raid: more typically, crews were considered to have done their bit after completing two tours.
Done their bit? With only about a 9% chance of making it through two tours, I would call that rather more than a fair share of the war effort. I can only hope I would have done as well...
In case you're interested, the book I quoted above is by a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner who flew 36 missions, ISBN 0-304-35541-0

[Ignition Override]

First (Flight?) Officer Browne: Thanks for the interesting response. I'll print the page and try to look up the book availability soon. Am curious about roughly how many such RAF pilots were wounded too severely to fly, and whether a few Flight Engineers could bring the plane back to at least a safe bail-out location over English countryside? Without VMC conditions, maybe some planes had workable autopilots, if flak damage only minor? Never mind with a serious fuel leak/imbalance or electrical failure etc...must have been much harder than in a more modern Viscount or Bristol Britannia/CL-44 etc.

[Fallows]

In RAF Bomber Command, there were quite a few occasions when the pilot was wounded and another crew member took over, this was often because the Navigator, Bomb Aimer, Flight Engineer, etc had completed some of the Pilots traning course before being "washed out". The standard tour was one of 30 missions before being "rested"(if you survived), you would then be sent to an Operational Training Unit as an instructor to pass on your hard won experience to student aircrew, a task which involved flying low hours students in often old and tired ex-operational aircraft in a Northern European winter before returning after six months to operational flying to complete you second tour of 20 missions before being permantently "rested".
I have a friend whose crew voluteered for Pathfinder duties after their 20th mission, a task which entailed doing 45 missions without a break. He was the sole survivor when they were shot down on a Stuttgart mission in 1944. Brave men indeed!.