Twin Engined Avro Anson C21 WD413 commercial six-seat 652 Aeroplane GAV 4019-382
The Avro Anson was originally designed as a light, four-passenger civil transport and mail aircraft. The first three were built to civil specifications, and first flew in 1935 for Imperial Airways. However, its promise was recognized by the British Air Ministry and, in 1936, the Avro 652A entered service with both the RAF and the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) Coastal Commands, where it was the first low-wing monoplane, and the first operational aircraft with retractable (manually) landing gear. Named after 18th Century Royal Navy Admiral, George Anson, the Avro Anson Mk I was used initially as a coastal patrol reconnaissance aircraft, with a manually-operated, enclosed gun turret mounting a single .303 machine gun, two internally-carried 100-lb bombs, and external racks that could carry eight 20-lb bombs, flares or smoke generators. The Anson was woefully under-gunned for its task, as was embarrassingly demonstrated when one accidentally bombed a Royal Navy submarine ( "Snapper") with 100-lb bombs that merely broke four light bulbs on the undersea craft. Thus, as quickly as possible, the Anson was replaced as a patrol craft by the Lockheed Hudson and reassigned as a training aircraft, a role for which it proved to be ideally suited, and in which it performed for nearly 3 decades. Initially intended to be the standard twin-engine pilot trainer for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), the Anson II was also used for training radio operators, navigators, and bombardiers. When Canada began manufacturing the complete aircraft at their own Federal Aircraft LTD site, the turret was dropped from their variant. The Anson Mk II was the first variant to be completely built in Canada, differing from the Mk I in its Jacobs engines, hydraulically powered flaps and landing gear, and a molded plywood nose. Fifty of the Canadian-manufactured Mk IIs were supplied to the U. S. Army as the AT-20 crew trainer. Subsequent Ansons manufactured in Canada under
Size: 5749px × 3343px
Location: Strathallan Airfield, Perthshire, Tayside. Scotland. United Kingdom.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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