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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 1572.PDF
An historic photograph taken on May 1Sth during the last test flight of the last Anson—VVJ561. Pilot, J. H. Orrell; flight engineer, D. Wilson. ANNIE IS A LADY —the Last of a Line of 11,020 AFEW days ago a matronly lady-of-all-work, who "does" for the young men of the R.A.F. and of many other Services and civilian bodies, was bidden into the presence of some very important people and honoured for her 17 years of service. Faithful Annie, they called her; and the old dear must have blushed in her way and remembered the days when, with her distinguished family name and modish figure, she was courted by all the young bloods of the R.A.F. as the most "modern" and—dare we breathe it?—one of the fastest things on wings. And lest, by remote chance, any reader has failed to follow us in this tribute, we may explain that the lady we speak of is the Avro Anson twin-engined monoplane, and that on May 27th the 11,020th—and positively the last—Anson was formally handed over to the Royal Air Force. We have it on the authority of A. V. Roe and Co., Ltd., that the story of the Anson really started on May 18th, 1933, when Mr. G. E. Woods-Humphery, then managing director of Imperial Airways, forwarded to Sir John Siddeley (the present Lord Kenil- worth) the outlines of a new specification. At that time "Imperials" were operating a number of large machines powered with Arm strong Siddeley engines, from which excellent service was being obtained, and it naturally followed that Woods-Humphery should put up his new ideas—for a small long-range charter machine—to his friend Sir John, who controlled the Armstrong Siddeley Development Company, of which A. V. Roe and Co., Ltd., was a member. After due cogitation Sir John passed on the letter to Avro's "two Roys"—Dobson and Chadwick—who had accumu lated a great deal of experience with the Fokker method of welded tubular construction in relatively large machines and who were now asked to build a machine to carry four passengers for 420 miles at a cruising speed of not less than 130 m.p.h.—and, if possible, at 150 m.p.h. Stalling speed was not to be higher than 60 m.p.h., and the choice of two or four engines was optional, though it was laid down that a minimum height of 2,000ft was to be maintained with one engine out of action. By August, 1933, Avro's ideas had been set down in the form of a design study bearing the type number 652. It was calculated that two Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah V engines would give a cruising speed of 150 m.p.h. and that the still-air range should be 600 miles. The gross weight was estimated to be 6,500 lb, and either welded steel tubes or plywood construction was to be used for the fuselage. The undercarriage was to be retractable, in conformity with the most advanced thinking of the period. During the winter of 1933/34 Mr. Woods-Humphery was considering the proposals, and his further stipulation that the machine should be suitable for the Karachi-Bombay-Colombo mail run pushed up the weight to 7,647 lb, including the necessary night-flying equipment. By April, 1934, he had gained sufficient confidence in his specification to order two machines. Detail design had been under way only four months when a letter arrived at Avros from the Director of Contracts, Air Minis try, notifying the company that the Direaorate wished to consider the suitability of a twin-engined landplane for coastal-reconnais- Mk 1 Mk 2 Mk 3 Mk Mk Mk 6 Mks7, 8 and 9 Mk10 Mk11 Mk12 Mks 13 and 14 Mks 15 and 16 Mk17 Mk18 Mk 18c Mk 19 Mk20 Mk21 Mk 22 ANSON MARKS British-built aircraft with Cheetah 9 engines. Canadian-built, with Jacobs Type L-6MB engines. Later modified to incorporate Vidal moulded-plywood nose and Dowty hydraulic under carriage and flaps. Was adopted by the U.S. Army Air Corps as a standard trainer and designated AT-20. British-built airframe fitted (in Canada) with Jacobs Type L-6MB engines. Later modified to incorporate Dowty hydraulic undercarriage and flaps. British-built, with Wright Whirlwind R-975E3 engines. Canadian-built, with Vidal moulded veneer fuselage. Pratt and Whitney R-985 AN 12B or 14B engines, Hamilton or Hoover constant-speed airscrews. Navigational trainer (no turret). Canadian-built, with Vidal moulded veneer fuselage, Pratt and Whitney R-985 AN 14B engines, Bristol Type 1 Mk 6 turret. Armament trainer. Reserved for new versions of Canadian-built aircraft. Not used. Interim communication and ambulance aircraft with standard fuselage. Series 1: Cheetah 9 engines, without hydraulic undercarriage. Series 2: Cheetah 19 engines, with hydraulic undercarriage. (These aircraft were used by Air Transport Auxiliary.) Communication and ambulance aircraft with deep fuselage. Cheetah 19 engines and hydraulic undercarriage. Fairey-Reed fixed-pitch metal air screws. Communication aircraft with deep fuselage. Cheetah 15 engines, Roto v.p. airscrews and hydraulic undercarriage. Reserved for further turret-gunnery aircraft. None built. Reserved for further navigation and bombing training aircraft. None built. Not allocated. Bombing, gunnery and radio trainer for the Royal Afghan Air Force Metal wings and tail. Civil aircrew trainer for Indian Government. Metal wings and tail. Communication aircraft and civil feederliner. Series 1: Cheetah 15 engines. Rotol v.p. airscrews and hydraulic undercarriage, wooden wings. Series 2: Cheetah 15 engines, metal wings and tail unit. R.A.F. navigational trainer (Rhodesia). Cheetah 15 engines, hydraulic undercarriage, and Rotol v.p. airscrews. Metal wing and tail. R.A.F. navigational trainer (home). Cheetah 15 or 17 engines, hydraulic undercarriage, and Rotol v.p. airscrews. Metal wings and tail. R.A.F. radio trainer. Cheetah 17 engines, hydraulic undercarriage, and Rotol v.p. airscrews. Metal wings and tail.
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