# AVRO



## bigred (Jun 14, 2014)

Have a small wooden jewelry box with the AVRO logo emblazoned on top. Has the Kings crown on the logo so I guess it is from WW2. Any one have any ideas where it could come from?


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## Wurger (Jun 15, 2014)

Welcome to the site.


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## Lucky13 (Jun 15, 2014)

_Nice_ box!
Welcome to the family!
Hopefully you'll get an answer....


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## Wurger (Jun 15, 2014)

Lucky13 said:


> _Nice_ box! ..... Hopefully you'll get an answer....



Undoubtedly it is neither a toolbox nor a Lanc bomb bay.


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## nuuumannn (Jun 15, 2014)

Bigred, welcome; you could try contacting these guys. They might be able to help you.

Avro Heritage Centre


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## stona (Jun 15, 2014)

It could be older. It looks to be a small box, maybe an apprentice piece dating from a time when aircraft were made essentially from wood. AVRO was in business pre WW1 and there were Kings on the throne from Victoria until the present monarch (1901-1952).

AVRO Canada was much later,1945, it would be interesting to know if the box is Canadian or British. Someone who knows what it is made of might be helpful.

I don't know how much alteration there has been to the AVRO logo over the years, if any. That might be a clue to dating the object.

Cheers

Steve


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## Airframes (Jun 15, 2014)

I agree - looks like an apprentice piece. My neighbours at the Heritage center would probably know, but, since the demise of the BAe Woodford factory, it's only open on a volunteer basis, so might take some time to receive a reply.


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## herman1rg (Jun 15, 2014)

Are you able to post up pictures of the inside and base?


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## bigred (Jun 15, 2014)

Be glad to, attached are few photos


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## fubar57 (Jun 15, 2014)

Very interesting Bigred 



Airframes said:


> I agree - looks like an apprentice piece. My neighbours at the Heritage center would probably know, but, since the demise of the BAe Woodford factory, it's only open on a volunteer basis, so might take some time to receive a reply.



Had to Google that. So this would be made as a test to show he was worthy?

Geo


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## Airframes (Jun 15, 2014)

Yes, such items were often made as part of the 'education process', perhaps as part of a final exam, much as a university thesis would be today. 
Although I'm not certain, I think the final choice for the item made, was up to the individual, but had to incorporate certain features from the 'trade' being tested. In this case, probably features such as close-fitting hinge work, precise corner joints, alignment and final finish, and so on, might have been the aim.


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## stona (Jun 16, 2014)

Airframes said:


> Yes, such items were often made as part of the 'education process', perhaps as part of a final exam, much as a university thesis would be today.
> Although I'm not certain, I think the final choice for the item made, was up to the individual, but had to incorporate certain features from the 'trade' being tested. In this case, probably features such as close-fitting hinge work, precise corner joints, alignment and final finish, and so on, might have been the aim.




Exactly, and it does look beautifully made, as you'd expect from something put together to demonstrate that the fellow building it had the requisite skills. I did notice that the slots in the screw heads in the hinges aren't aligned though hinges break and they may have been replaced 

Cheers

Steve


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## rochie (Jun 16, 2014)

very nice, though i think it may be a desktop cigarette box ?

Reactions: Like Like:
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## buffnut453 (Jun 16, 2014)

What a lovely piece of aviation memorabilia. I'd love to own something like that. I'm jealous!!


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## A4K (Jun 17, 2014)

Love it mate, I'm jealous too! 

Interesting theory by steve and Terry too, could be something in that. Our 'practice piece' in the RNZAF was a metal bench vice. Thing was, if you made it 'perfectly', it wouldn't fit right! (I didn't have that problem  )


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## bigred (Jun 17, 2014)

Many thanks to you all for your input. I e-mailed the Avro Heritage Centre in the UK and got this response: " Many of these were made by apprentices as a learning exercise in woodwork as most of the aircraft during WW1 were of wood construction. It bears the King's Crown which was above the Avro logo during WW1 but was dispensed with after the war so this does identify this box as a wartime product by an Avro apprentice."


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## stona (Jun 17, 2014)

Thanks for posting their response. So a WW1 era apprentice piece it is 
Cheers
Steve


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## Airframes (Jun 17, 2014)

Great stuff, and thanks for letting us know. I might be seeing one of the guys from the Heritage Center next week (he lives half a mile away, and is organising another day trip to an aviation site), so I'll mention this to him.


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## Lucky13 (Jun 17, 2014)

Awesome!


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## nuuumannn (Jun 24, 2014)

Great to see you got a response.



> but had to incorporate certain features from the 'trade' being tested. In this case, probably features such as close-fitting hinge work, precise corner joints, alignment and final finish, and so on, might have been the aim.



Airframeys still have to do the same today, only with sheet metal, of course. On my course we made a number of things that we were tested on, a bucking bar for rivetting, drill gauges, drill guides, examples of structural items, like an instrument holder with a litening hole, a compound join in u shaped sections of spar that was rivetted together, basic metal working tools, like a hammer etc. Doing line maintenance means that I don't put any of it into practise now though, although I did my fair share in the Skin Bay overhauling P-3 and C-130 flight controls and engine cowls.


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## Airframes (Jun 25, 2014)

Yes Grant, I had friends at Woodford who had to make things at various stages in their training. 
I did a little digging, and I think, although not sure, that the crown was deleted by the mid 1920's. Here's a pic of the later badge, displayed on the fin of an Anson. Note the lack of the crown.


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