Hi Guys,
Here are some pictures of an Anson that has been undergoing a 10 year transformation not far from where I live. At present it is in our hangar undergoing final assembly before its first flight. The aircraft was built as Mk.I MH120 and served with the RAAF. The restoration work is outstanding, with as much original equipment fitted as possible (or as deemed appropriate by the CAA!)The following is courtesy of ADF Serials website:
"2 AP 20.3.44. 1 AOS 20.4.44. AFRU12.2.45. CMU Deniliquin 3.10.45. 1 AD 12.12.47. DAP Parafield 25.2.45. APL 29.10.48. 2 AD 25.10.49. Sold 23.2.53. Registration VH-BLP(2) reserved 12.8.53 for J. McInnerney (trading as Greenfield Air taxis, Albury, NSW) but not taken up. CoR No 2371 as VH-BAF issued 9.9.57 to Aerocartographic Service, c/- Brain Brown, Moorabbin Airport, Cheltenham, Vic. Damaged when undercarriage collapsed, Moorabbin, 7.10.60 and cancelled. Restored 16.8.63 (with CoR No 2371 re-issued on 5.9.63 as an Avro 652AM (Modified)) using Anson C.19 VM375's tapered metal wings from RAAF stocks and some components from VH-BIX, to Brain Brown Air Freighters Pty Ltd., Moorabbin, Vic. Cancelled at owners request 2.10.74. Restored 13.1.84 to Z.A. Brain, Doncaster, Vic, and named 'Last of the Lot' as the world's last airworthy Mk.1 Anson. Was on display at Airworld at Wangaratta, Vic. Sold 2002 to Bill Reid, dismantled and shipped to Nelson, New Zealand. Under restoration to fly at Wakefield, NZ Will be restored to original "glasshouse" configuration."
This is a picture of it I took in 1991 at Air World, Wangaratta, Australia. It wears the markings of Col Roscoe Turner's Boeing 247, which it played in a movie about the 1934 McRobertson Air Race.
For those of you who view the Anson as an obsolete second rate type, you're right; by WW2 it was, but it was significant to Commonwealth countries as their first "modern" combat aircraft. The basic design was based on the Avro Ten, which was a licence built Fokker F.VIIb trimotor - steel tube/fabric covered fuse, with single piece wooden wing. First entering RAF service as a maritime reconnaissance bomber in 1936, the Anson lasted 32 years, primarily in the trainer and transport role. It was nicknamed "Faithful Annie". The Aussies operated over 1,000 of them and this particular one was the last flying Mk.I in the world - and will be so again. Originally Anson Is were fitted with wooden wings, but in Australia they were grounded from 1962. This was refitted with a metal wing from a later model. In all, 10,996 Ansons of all marks were built, with production ending in 1952. Only two Ansons are flown on a regular basis, both are in the UK.
Avro XIX (civil version) G-AHKX
Anson T.21 WD413
I'll post more pictures of it after completion.
Here are some pictures of an Anson that has been undergoing a 10 year transformation not far from where I live. At present it is in our hangar undergoing final assembly before its first flight. The aircraft was built as Mk.I MH120 and served with the RAAF. The restoration work is outstanding, with as much original equipment fitted as possible (or as deemed appropriate by the CAA!)The following is courtesy of ADF Serials website:
"2 AP 20.3.44. 1 AOS 20.4.44. AFRU12.2.45. CMU Deniliquin 3.10.45. 1 AD 12.12.47. DAP Parafield 25.2.45. APL 29.10.48. 2 AD 25.10.49. Sold 23.2.53. Registration VH-BLP(2) reserved 12.8.53 for J. McInnerney (trading as Greenfield Air taxis, Albury, NSW) but not taken up. CoR No 2371 as VH-BAF issued 9.9.57 to Aerocartographic Service, c/- Brain Brown, Moorabbin Airport, Cheltenham, Vic. Damaged when undercarriage collapsed, Moorabbin, 7.10.60 and cancelled. Restored 16.8.63 (with CoR No 2371 re-issued on 5.9.63 as an Avro 652AM (Modified)) using Anson C.19 VM375's tapered metal wings from RAAF stocks and some components from VH-BIX, to Brain Brown Air Freighters Pty Ltd., Moorabbin, Vic. Cancelled at owners request 2.10.74. Restored 13.1.84 to Z.A. Brain, Doncaster, Vic, and named 'Last of the Lot' as the world's last airworthy Mk.1 Anson. Was on display at Airworld at Wangaratta, Vic. Sold 2002 to Bill Reid, dismantled and shipped to Nelson, New Zealand. Under restoration to fly at Wakefield, NZ Will be restored to original "glasshouse" configuration."
This is a picture of it I took in 1991 at Air World, Wangaratta, Australia. It wears the markings of Col Roscoe Turner's Boeing 247, which it played in a movie about the 1934 McRobertson Air Race.
For those of you who view the Anson as an obsolete second rate type, you're right; by WW2 it was, but it was significant to Commonwealth countries as their first "modern" combat aircraft. The basic design was based on the Avro Ten, which was a licence built Fokker F.VIIb trimotor - steel tube/fabric covered fuse, with single piece wooden wing. First entering RAF service as a maritime reconnaissance bomber in 1936, the Anson lasted 32 years, primarily in the trainer and transport role. It was nicknamed "Faithful Annie". The Aussies operated over 1,000 of them and this particular one was the last flying Mk.I in the world - and will be so again. Originally Anson Is were fitted with wooden wings, but in Australia they were grounded from 1962. This was refitted with a metal wing from a later model. In all, 10,996 Ansons of all marks were built, with production ending in 1952. Only two Ansons are flown on a regular basis, both are in the UK.
Avro XIX (civil version) G-AHKX
Anson T.21 WD413
I'll post more pictures of it after completion.
