THE AVRO ANSON STORY

In the 1930s, Imperial Airways (I.A.L.) was the national flag-carrier, and in May 1933 the airline approached Avro with a specification for a fast long-range machine, inspired by the designs then appearing in America. The company took only three months to produce a proposal - the Type 652, a twin-engined low-wing monoplane seating for four passengers with a retractable undercarriage.

Power was supplied by two 270hp Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah V air-cooled radial engines, with a welded steel fuselage coupled to a thick-section Fokker type wooden wing. The undercarriage was retracted manually by winding a handle 140 times!

The design was accepted by IAL, and the first of two ordered was flown by Sam Brown at Woodford on January 7th. 1935. Both machines, named "Avalon" and "Avatar", were delivered to Croydon (at that time London's Airport) on March 11th.

With a top speed of nearly 200 mph and a range of 800 miles, IAL envisaged a lucrative trade in transporting VIPs around Europe, but the most valuable usage was for transporting Air Mail to Brindisi in southern Italy to link up with flying boat services to the Empire, saving valuable time.

(Monochrome Photograph showing - The Avro 652 'Avalon' on the compass base at Woodford.)

Whilst in the design stage of the Type 652, the Air Ministry invited tenders for a contract to build a new twin-engined Coastal Patrol aircraft as part of the rapid re-armament programme then taking place. The specification was so similar to the IAL requirements that Avro quickly produced a modified version. This was submitted to the Air Ministry (along with tenders from another 12 companies). The Design was designated Type 652A and incorporated a hand-operated dorsal gun turret, a fixed forward-firing Vickers gun for the pilot, and could carry a bomb load of 360 lb.

(Monochrome Photograph showing - The prototype Avro 652A shortly after roll-out at Woodford.)