Avro Anson was a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force from 1936. Trainer/transport. Flying in New Zealand
The Avro Anson was a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Canadian Air Force and numerous other air forces before, during, and after the Second World War. Named after British Admiral George Anson, it was originally designed as an airliner as the Avro 652 before being redeveloped for maritime reconnaissance, but was soon rendered obsolete in both roles. However, it was rescued from obscurity by its suitability as a multi-engined aircrew trainer, becoming the mainstay of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. By the end of production in 1952, the Anson spanned nine variants; a total of 8,138 were built in Britain by Avro. From 1941, a further 2,882 were built by Federal Aircraft Ltd. in Canada. The Anson was derived from the commercial six-seat 652 model; the militarised version, which first flew on 24 March 1935, was built to Air Ministry Specification 18/35. It was the first RAF monoplane with a retractable undercarriage. Avro allotted the type number 652A to the Anson. The first production run resulted in 174 Mk I aircraft for service with Coastal Command. No. 48 Squadron RAF was the first to be equipped in March 1936. A distinctive feature of the Anson I was its landing gear retraction mechanism which required no fewer than 140 turns of the hand crank by the pilot. To forgo this laborious process, early model aircraft often made short flights with the landing gear extended at the expense of 30 mph (50 km/h) of cruise speed.[1] A total of 11,020 Ansons were built by the end of production in 1952, making it the second-most-numerous (after the Vickers Wellington), British multi-engined aircraft of the war. Although Ansons have mainly been retired from flying, a 1936 Avro Anson was recently made airworthy, fitted with later metal wings and returned to the air on 18 July 2012 in Nelson, New Zealand. This is the aircraft seen here.
Size: 3799px × 2517px
Location: Hood Aerodrome, Masterton, New Zealand
Photo credit: © Avpics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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