Editing Avro Manchester (section)

==Variants==
;Manchester ''L7246''
:First prototype originally with twin tail. Due to lack of directional stability, it had a third fin added. Became a training airframe in November 1942.
;Manchester ''L7247''
:Second prototype first flown 26 May 1940, fitted with armament, became a training airframe in October 1941.
;Manchester I
:First production version with 90 ft wing and 28 ft twin tail and additional central fin later added; 20 of this type were built.{{efn|Designations are internal Avro ones circa November 1939, the Air Ministry only used the 'Mk I' and 'MK IA' designations to differentiate between the early triple-fin and later twin-fin variants.}}
;Manchester IA
:Main production version with 90 ft wing, twin tail with 33 ft enlarged tailplane. It also had taller fins and rudders.
;Manchester IB
:As Manchester IA but with thin-gauge fuselage skin.
;Manchester IC
:As Manchester IB but with 2 x 2,520 hp [[Bristol Centaurus]]. Installed in one airframe but never flown.{{efn|Centaurus development had been halted to enable Bristol to concentrate effort on the [[Bristol Hercules|Hercules]].}}
;Manchester II
:As Manchester IB but with 95 ft wing.
;Manchester IIA
:As Manchester II but with 2 x Bristol Centaurus. None built.
;Manchester III ''BT308''
:This version was powered by four Merlin engines with increased wingspan; also, the three fins and rudders of the Manchester I were retained. This variant was the first prototype of the later [[Avro Lancaster]].{{efn|The initial Avro proposal for 4 x Rolls-Royce Merlins was made September 1939. Alternative engine projects included 2 x 2,100 hp [[Napier Sabre]]s, 2 x Bristol Hercules (layout only, 1940), 2 x Bristol Pegasus, layout only, 1940.{{cn|date=August 2023}} }}

===Orders and production===
* Two prototypes were ordered against specification P.13/36 and were built by Avro at Ringway.
* Production contract for 200 Manchesters placed with Avro to be built at Chadderton, contract changed to Lancaster I production after 157 had been built, delivered between August 1940 and November 1941.
* Production contract for 150 Manchesters placed with Fairey to be built at Ringway, order cancelled.
* Production contract for 200 Manchesters placed with Metropolitan-Vickers at Trafford Park, contract changed to Lancaster I production after 43 had been built, delivered between March 1941 and March 1942. The first 12 aircraft being built on the Trafford Park production line were destroyed in a German air raid on 23 December 1940, not being completed they are not included in the total aircraft built.
* Production contract for 150 Manchesters placed with Armstrong-Whitworth, order cancelled.
In total two prototypes and 200 production aircraft were built before the production lines changed to building the four-engine Lancaster.