WW2 RAF- always solo bomber pilots?

[Ignition Override]

I just saw a response to this same question in the 'JetBlast' forum on London, and the main problem was staffing.

Some Canadians also flew the Lancaster and I suppose there was always a pilot shortage in Britain. What an intense bunch of missions they must have been for the solo pilots. I guess that the planes with Flight Engineers used them as second-in-command, to order bail outs if the pilot was seriously injured?:ouch:

[Jackonicko]

Many Flight Engineers had a degree of pilot training, and there were many instances where FEs flew their aircraft home after the pilot was incapacitated or killed.

In any event, it was only later in the war that single-pilot heavy bomber ops became the norm, with second pilots originally being carried by the Stirling and the Halifax.

[escapee]

Jacko, from some of the books I have read I thought it was usually the bomb aimer who was trained to fly the plane in case of pilot incapacitation, not sure where I got that from probably from one of Martin Middlebrooks books. Cannot swear that its true but seem to remember it was something to do with many of the bomb aimers having originally been trainee pilots; I would suspect the air eng would have had plenty on his plate doing his own job, as well as crawling out on the wing to put fires out!:eek:

[Jackonicko]

Flight Engineers in those days, not Air Engineers.

Bomb aimers did sometimes take over, so did Observers, Navs and W/Ops, but many of the OTUs and HCCUs actually gave 'stick time' training to Flight Engineers. I believe that who would take over may have varied from aircraft type to aircraft type, from Group to Group, and from Command to Command.