Crimea_River
Marshal
Username: Crimea River
First name: Andy
Category: Judge – Non-competing
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Classic Airframes
Model Type: Avro Anson MkI
Aftermarket addons: None planned but scratch building of covered glazing might be done
I'll start this thread as a place holder for my build, though I may not get to it for a bit since I have not researched the subject in depth and I still need to get my Swordfish and Ar196 behind me. I bought this kit for cheap at a swap a year or two ago. Since then the story of the loss and recent discovery of Anson L7056 intrigued me and I think it would be great if I could replicate this aircraft in miniature.
From
View: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1917898040/the-loss-and-discovery-of-avro-anson-l7056
On October 30, 1942, five twin-engined Avro Anson navigation trainers of 32 Operational Training Unit took off from the Royal Canadian Air Force base at Patricia Bay on southern Vancouver Island. Three of L7056's crew were volunteer British airmen from the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve: observer Pilot Officer Charles George Fox, age 31 and married; observer Pilot Officer Anthony William Lawrence, 21; and 32 Operational Training Unit staff pilot Sgt Robert Ernest Luckock, 21. Wireless operator Sgt William Baird, also 21, from Brooks, Alberta, was the sole Canadian on board. Weather conditions proved to be worse than forecasted and at approximately 11:30am flying control recalled the Ansons, calculating that the weather was good enough for the aircraft to regain Patricia Bay.
Four Ansons returned but nothing had been heard from L7056 since the exercise go-ahead almost three hours earlier. High Speed Rescue Launch Aircraft from Patricia Bay flew over 40 hours searching the coastal waters and densely forested coastal margins but no trace of Anson L7056 or her crew was found. The four airmen were documented as 'presumed dead' and are commemorated at the Ottawa Memorial.
Some seventy-one years later, on October 24, 2013, three Cowichan Valley forestry engineers from the wood products company Teal Jones Group – Dennis Cronin with his colleagues Walter Van Hell and Tom Weston – found the wreckage, the undisturbed remains of a crashed aircraft, including what appeared to be the tail assembly of a bomb or smoke float. Ordnance Department from RCN Naden attended the crash site to check for unexploded bombs. Although the original fabric fuselage covering and any markings had long since rotted away, a serial number on an engine data plate confirmed that Anson L7056 had been found.
As much as I'd like to model this aircraft, there are two hurdles that I need to investigate and overcome. First, the decals provided with the kit do not cover this scheme. Second, the kit does not provide the modified glazing exhibited on Ansons operating in Canada whereby much of the leaky glazing was removed and replaced with plywood with small, round portholes in the side.
As I investigate the feasibility of recreating this scheme, it may become apparent to me that this will involve too much work, in which case I will likely revert to the RCAF option included with the kit scheme.
I will post an inspection of the kit contents in a future thread.
First name: Andy
Category: Judge – Non-competing
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Classic Airframes
Model Type: Avro Anson MkI
Aftermarket addons: None planned but scratch building of covered glazing might be done
I'll start this thread as a place holder for my build, though I may not get to it for a bit since I have not researched the subject in depth and I still need to get my Swordfish and Ar196 behind me. I bought this kit for cheap at a swap a year or two ago. Since then the story of the loss and recent discovery of Anson L7056 intrigued me and I think it would be great if I could replicate this aircraft in miniature.
From
View: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1917898040/the-loss-and-discovery-of-avro-anson-l7056
On October 30, 1942, five twin-engined Avro Anson navigation trainers of 32 Operational Training Unit took off from the Royal Canadian Air Force base at Patricia Bay on southern Vancouver Island. Three of L7056's crew were volunteer British airmen from the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve: observer Pilot Officer Charles George Fox, age 31 and married; observer Pilot Officer Anthony William Lawrence, 21; and 32 Operational Training Unit staff pilot Sgt Robert Ernest Luckock, 21. Wireless operator Sgt William Baird, also 21, from Brooks, Alberta, was the sole Canadian on board. Weather conditions proved to be worse than forecasted and at approximately 11:30am flying control recalled the Ansons, calculating that the weather was good enough for the aircraft to regain Patricia Bay.
Four Ansons returned but nothing had been heard from L7056 since the exercise go-ahead almost three hours earlier. High Speed Rescue Launch Aircraft from Patricia Bay flew over 40 hours searching the coastal waters and densely forested coastal margins but no trace of Anson L7056 or her crew was found. The four airmen were documented as 'presumed dead' and are commemorated at the Ottawa Memorial.
Some seventy-one years later, on October 24, 2013, three Cowichan Valley forestry engineers from the wood products company Teal Jones Group – Dennis Cronin with his colleagues Walter Van Hell and Tom Weston – found the wreckage, the undisturbed remains of a crashed aircraft, including what appeared to be the tail assembly of a bomb or smoke float. Ordnance Department from RCN Naden attended the crash site to check for unexploded bombs. Although the original fabric fuselage covering and any markings had long since rotted away, a serial number on an engine data plate confirmed that Anson L7056 had been found.
As much as I'd like to model this aircraft, there are two hurdles that I need to investigate and overcome. First, the decals provided with the kit do not cover this scheme. Second, the kit does not provide the modified glazing exhibited on Ansons operating in Canada whereby much of the leaky glazing was removed and replaced with plywood with small, round portholes in the side.
As I investigate the feasibility of recreating this scheme, it may become apparent to me that this will involve too much work, in which case I will likely revert to the RCAF option included with the kit scheme.
I will post an inspection of the kit contents in a future thread.
