Avro Anson | The Multipurpose "Faithful Annie" [Aircraft Overview #14]
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft. It was built in large numbers and served in the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and numerous other air forces before, during, and after the Second World War. It is most famous for its role as a training aircraft in the RAF and Commonwealth air forces.
Originally conceived for maritime patrol and coastal reconnaissance, by the outbreak of WW2 the Avro Anson was already obsolete, a testament to the speed of aviation development in the latter half of the 1930s. By the outbreak of hostilities it was mostly used as a training aircraft, a role in which it would excel. It was a major unit in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and would also be used after the war in varying civilian and military roles.
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Producing these videos is a hobby of mine. I have a passion for history, and personally own a large collection of books, journals and other texts, and endeavor to do as much research as possible. However if there are any mistakes, please don't hesitate to reach out and correct anything :)
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A friend of mine, an emigre from Germany in 1938 re-named himself after this aircraft. He considered that an English surname would be better than German one. The difficulty was choosing one. When he first saw an Anson he thought it a rather beautiful and asked what it was called and the rest as they say, was history.
Its little stories like this that I love about history
I had to stop the video to read this little bit of history. So he called himself Avro? Or Anson?
My family had to re-name after we Alamanni had lost decisively against the Franks in the infamous Battle of Strasbourg. But that happened some time ago. . .
@@robkunkel8833 First name _Avro,_ last name _Anson,_ of cause *. . . ;-)*
@@letoubib21 No. First name Colin (he came from Cologne), last name Anson. He was a real gent and a person who was a privilege to know.
Such a good trainer that two Australian Ansons collided mid-air , they got stuck together and one of the pilots landed both of them .
That also happened on two other occasions in Canada.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_Brocklesby_mid-air_collision
7 Dec 1943, Gimli, Manitoba. See: Air Force, Spring 1991, Summer 1991, Flypast May 1997, CAHS Journal Vol. 10, No. 4
19 Jan 1944, RCAF #2 Training Command. See: Air Force magazine, Winter, 1991
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Lol... that was just aussie pluck, though, nothing to do with the quality of the aircraft, right? XD
@@q.e.d.9112 Gimli certainly seems to attract interesting aircraft incidents!
@@krakenpots5693 true
My grandma built Ansons and then mostly Lancasters at the AVRO factory In Manchester during ww2, she said her main job was to drive small lorries moving parts around the giant factory and other jobs sometimes. She didn't talk about it much. Rip grandma. So proud.
Was her name Rosie? *;-)*
@@letoubib21 her name was Elsie
@@dannymiester5825 _Elsie the Rivetter_ wouldn't have been bad either, would it? *;-)*
Sorry, but now my mind's eye can't help to see a cute, young girl wearing dungarees, and assambling an aircraft *. . .*
My first kit was an Airfix Anson. Curt Milan, an English dude living/working in Pennsylvania. He'd put out a list of kits hard to find. Miss his voice on the phone, really do. Can't seem to change my handle, my wife past 2yrs ago. That said.....big aviation buff! My army experience; can't say enough 'bout the Brits! Happy New Year from Alabama, right here on the Gulf 😊
@@aeelmore69 Airfix Anson. I have built a few. I have seen a photo of an air ambulance version where part of the aft cabin side and roof section opened upwards to enable stretcher cases to be placed inside the aircraft. The RAF Auxilliary Air Force used them as taxi aircraft for the pilots who delivered aircraft across the UK from the aircraft factories. Lettice Curtis wrote about them in her book The Forgotten Pilots. Regards from West Yorkshire.England.
I used to build Airfix models as a lad, lots of them. The only one Dad ever helped me with was the Avro Anson, he took his time and it was perfect when he had finished. It was only afterwards he told me of his eldest brother that had died during aircrew training at the start of WW2.
I looked up his name in the roll of honour at the Scottish services museum at Edinburgh Castle.
The Anson is a great little aircraft. Keep up your videos, they are most informative.
5:55: The Ansons that fought off the Bf109s belonged to No.500 Squadron RAF and had been modified by their crews with two extra machine guns firing from the side windows. They also modified a few of their Ansons with a 20mm cannon firing through the cabin floor for use on German E-boats off the east coast of England.
It's so wonderful seeing so many people in the comments who have histories or connections with the planes you cover.
After training in 1961 as an Airframe fitter,I was posted to HQ Tech.Training that had 3 Ansons and one Devon. So the first operational aircraft I worked on was the Anson. Also the first and only time I did a patch repair stiching fabric and aplying dope before paint. The Anson gave us no trouble at all!
I worked with someone who worked on the Anson. He replaced the elevators and passed all inspections until the final one, by the Flt Sgt. Something puzzled him and rather than sign it off, he said he’d wait until after dinner. When he came back, he spotted what was wrong…..the elevators were upside down !! Someone had to be first to do this, and that dubious distinction went to my work colleague.
When I flew the Dak , one of the Captains quietly admitted that he’d obtained his initial instrument rating on the Anson. To my shame , I laughed .
The Anson was a great aircraft. When I was in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets back in Winnipeg, we had a long term project of restoring one that crashed into a swamp just north of Gimli Manitoba. FWIW several Ansons crashed into that swamp just beyond the airfield. After restoration (I had left Cadets by this point), it was donated to the BCATP Museum in Brandon Manitoba where it is on static display.
father trained as a pilot with rcaf at calgary , vulcan and lethbridge - anson was the standard progression from the harvad - it has "character"!
@@nickthomas8400 I met very pleasant lady once in the Edmonton aviation museum. She spoke highly of the Anson in its roll with the BCATP. She was a pilot in the program where she was responsible for ferrying various aircraft types as required.
As a person raised in around real swamps I was curious what Canadians call a "Swamp".......yeah, no. That's just wetlands dude, no mangroves, no man eating aquatic reptiles, no year round swarms of blood sucking bugs, sounds nice lol.
@@archibaldlarid3587 I grew up on the prairies and lived next to the everglades for about eight years. One time at Shark Valley (actually below sea level) I was stunned at how much the blue skies, flat horizon and sawgrass looked like the bald-ass prairies.
p.s. You've never seen mosquitos like mosquitos around Winnipeg in the summer time. It's a swamp.
Reading my father's log book .... he was with the Empire Training Scheme with the RNZAF, moving around from aerodrome to aerodrome... Winnipeg being one base. I am sure he was at Brandon where there was a navigation or gunnery school.
I believe an Anson crashed into the west side of Mt Egmont ( New Plymouth )during the war, probably still climbing out of the (then) air force 'drome at Bell Block.
Thanks for this, my father was killed in a t navigation training flight in England in 1944, I was just 5 years old. It was good to see what he flew in.
I'm sorry about your Dad. War is such a stupid waste of young lives.
@@davidhynd4435 My Grandparents were killed by an air raid. Their three sons survived, though being soldiers *. . .*
Truly you’re like a Drachinifel but for Aircraft! Best aviation and plane breakdown/histories on CZcams! 100% now a subscriber
Legit , He’s brilliant and way better than todays TV documentaries that repeat themselves after every add break smh . Love this guy!’
He's good ...... But his claim 'It was the fastest RAF twin engined 'plane when it entered service is a bit marginal.
The Blenheim was *much* faster and entered service more or less at the same time - But he *might* be correct by a few weeks. Its close. very close.
Still, the world's a better place for having 'Rex's Hanger' series in it.
(Not to be confused with the also good BBC Cartoon 'Rex the Runt' series - Which they'd not dare make these days).
And without the annoying salvos of Drachinfel’s opening. 🤭🤭
My half brother joined the RAF in August 1940, and after training in Ansons, joined Coastal Command ,500 Sqdn, based a Detling in Kent. Unfortunately, he was shot down by AA flaK, while on patrol over the Dutch coast, in a Anson, while looking for the invasion Barges the Nazis were building, for the attack on Britain. Of the 4 man crew, two died, and two survived, luckily, including my brother, both he and another were rescued by Dutch Fishermen, but the Germans had seen this, so ,they spent the war as POW's. He survived the infamous ''Long March'' of POWS accross Europe, from Poland, in terrible freezing weather, just ahead of the Russian Army. He lived till he was nearly 90 .
Well done!
During the war, my father was placed as the manager of a crew of 15 men in charge of constructing Ansons.
In Parafield, South Australia.
He was 15 years old! (Too young to sign up.)
He got to fly on many a test-flight, as a "passenger" naturally was given the pump-handle, and claimed that the number of gruelling cranks on the landing gear was 147, not 144.
He recalls, when riveting the nose-cone, (stood vertically), there was a man inside, supposedly holding a dolly against the rivets being hammered from the outside.
He was forced to sack one dozy "WNW" (would not work), for constantly falling asleep whilst holding the dolly.
(Dad became an accomplished Engineer/Draughtsman.)
It is interesting to note now the Anson is recalled with such affection while the Fairey Battle is lambasted as one of the worst aircraft ever inflicted upon the RAF because, upon consideration, the Anson and Fairey Battle actually shared pretty much the same story. The only major difference was that the Anson was employed operationally over the sea by Coastal Command while the Battle was used operationally over France by Bomber Command. As a result, the Battle was unfortunate enough to be exposed to far more enemy fire than the Anson and, consequently, suffered far greater combat losses. However, both were mid-1930s bombers, both were obsolete when WW-II began and both later became very effective training aircraft.
Good point I had not thought of before you highlighting. I think because it was publicised in the RAF force forward deployed to France with photos of being escorted by the French etc and equipped the Belgium airforce and looked quite modern there was probably more I’ll informed expectation of the poor old Battle.
Don't forget that the Anson was used heavily by the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada.
Called the "Aerodrome of Democracy" by FDR, the BCATP in Canada alone trained over 130,000 air personnel from many Commonwealth and Occupied Allied nations.
My Great-grandfather flew an Anson to train bombers and gunners in their craft. The Anson was reported very popular, probably owing to why there are nearly as many Ansons surviving in Canada today as there are in the UK.
I have an interesting story about the Anson. My dad in the RCAF [he renounced his US citizenship to join] was on a man haul flight in Canada when they lost an engine on takeoff. The manual said DO NOT ATTEMP a loaded takeoff on one engine. He was copilot and the commander said he was going to anyway and continued struggling to get it air born. My dad said he turned and looked at the faces of the young recruits in back [I guess he said to himself NO, we are not doing this] and turned around and pulled up the landing gear. That landed him in a lot of trouble with many charges I'm sure- the Pilot was very angry with him, not to mention the military as a whole. He said that he thinks the only thing that saved him at the inquest was one officer asked him what he would do if that exact situation happened again. He said he looked at the officer and said "same damn thing".
4:52 Anson in Finnish service. Finland purchased a few prior to WWII, and marked them with the usual blue swastika..
Ah thanks, I was wondering about that and went looking in the comments for an answer!
They,and Lancasters,were built just a few miles away from me at a shadow factory at Yeadon West Yorkshire. There is something appeallingly honest about the aircraft..
The NZ Anson has flown over my house twice in the last year. Very distinctive engine sound and you don't have to rush outside to catch a glimpse. You can put the kettle on as you go past.
Can it divert to Ohakea and go over east Levin....?
my farther was an Air gunner, eventually on Wellingtons. He did a lot of his turret training on Ansons. Years later I joined the RAF as a Halton Apprentice, the barracks were named after RAF Aircraft. My barracks was named Anson flight.
A friend of mine and I, as air cadets, bummed a ride on a training flight in an Anson at RAF Bovingdon, some time around 1964. We spent 2¼ hours doing circuits and bumps and were rather glad to get out of the aeroplane after that time. Looking back now it was an achievement to be proud of but at the time it was rather boring after the first 30 minutes!
I understand that as a passenger aircraft, one lucky passenger received a 25% reduction in ticket price for turning the landing gear crank those 144 turns to retract the wheels.
Better than to row as in the Boeing Clipper *. . . ;-)*
My father was sergeant of B Flight based at the end of the runway at Halfpenny Green ( named Halfpenny Field for some reason in the Battle of Britain film ). Most of his time was spent repairing Anson's. They had a wind down aerial with a large lead weight on the end. One poor cow in a nearby field found this out when an Anson landed with aerial deployed. My father said he watched one land backwards in high winds. They were also nicknamed 'Flying Greenhouses. Not so long ago B Flight Nissan hut was still there - full of hay. I found a picket screw in the hedge where by father threw 'the bloody thing' all those years ago. He would have loved to see this video. Thank you.
I live in the heart of BCATP country - Saskatchewan, Canada. Many airframes still exist. Some of course in much better shape then others, but the Anson was well loved and well remembered here. We are proud of our part in the war with BCATP. The Anson was a huge part of that. Thank you for explaining the evolution of this historic aircraft.
"Lacking the permanently hostile climate of their spider-infested neighbour..." 🤣 I love your turn of phrase (and I say that as someone of Australian origin).
Greeting from New Zealand's spider infested neighbour🙂 Around 1950 my father had a memorable flight from Darwin NT. Amongst the passengers was a 10' crocodile. Even bound up, that must have been a good effort to get it through the door.
My mom built engine cylinders for ansons and others.during ww2 she was a young lady working in Edmonton Alta. Canada 🇨🇦 🍁 🇨🇦 .
Good summary. My father flew on Ansons in the comms role during the war. He well remembered the endless minutes of hard physical work winding up the undercarriage. It took so long that for most sorties they just left them down. It was of course the Radio Op, not the pilot, who got this job. And at least if it had been retracted it would then free-fall when selected down!
My father had a very unglamorous but survivable career in the RAF during the war. He in in the A.D.L.F. squadron and once had a hairy experience when it was thought the landing gear had jammed, which upon landing turned out not to be the case!
When I worked at the Western Development Museum I found we had copies of letters from a New Zeeland aircrew trainee who was at Saskatoon in 41, I think. His pilot decide one day to fly under the University bridge, which he accomplished, and promptly got his crew written up and almost sent back home for it. Look it up on the maps. It's not an easy stunt.
My father, who did his active service with RNZAF No 5 Sqn on Catalinas did part of his training in Ansons--as I read in his log book from 1943-4
qv
My father was a wartime RCAF Coastal Command pilot who did his offshore navigational training in Ansons out over the Gulf of St Lawrence flying from Summerside PEI.
Loved the Anson. As an air cadet it was the first aircraft i flew in and took the controls of. Enjoyed many hours on it with No.2 Ferry Pool at RAF Aston Down. Wonderful!
I have been up in one of these. Stately is the best term to describe the progress of the machine through the sky. the nearest equivalent I could think of was when I discovered a DH.84 Dragon doesn't so much fly as float through the air, and this was the next thing that came along.
Excellent Documentary about a forgotten hero of WW2, Well Done !!
The landing gear on this aircraft certainly has a unique design.
The first entries in the Flying Log-Book of my late uncle, Alf Stokes, show that he spent December 1943 & January 1944 on No 7 Air Gunnery School, at Pyle in South Wales. Air firing was done on Ansons. The man after whom my brother was named, Sqn Ldr Phil Piejus, did a tour flying Ansons at George, in South Africa. Prior to that, he'd flown Hudsons in Coastal Command. I used to see Ansons, presumably C19s, flying in & out of RAF Hendon until it shut in 1956. Our house was under one of the approaches, and, in 1964 I was lucky to get a flight in a RAF Anson at RAF White Waltham. Good old Annie!
I cut my teeth in aircraft restoration at Duxford in 1972 with the preliminary restoration of Avro Anson C19 S/N TX183. I still have the fabric we took off the port side of the fuselage, with the serial number on it. The Aircraft belonged to the Shuttleworth Trust at the time, but is now in a museum in the Middle East.
I think they used these in the movie 633 Squadron. Very odd shaped fuselage but like the wing-engine layout. Thanks for another fine informative video on a not too familiar aircraft.
My dad flew Ansons amongst other aircraft and said that they practically flew themselves. So much so that he used to scare the life out of his passengers by going to the door for a pee in mid flight!
"Right, gear down, please."
"Ok, gear down...Hang on....hang on...hang on....nearly there...And...hang on... A bit more to go...Just about there..."
"Is it down?"
"Juuust about. Almost. Just a bit more..."
One of my top favourite aeroplanes! I love the crank handle to raise the gear! So slow that some pilots left the gear down for short flights! Looking forward to watching this ...
My Dad was a navigator in Ansons, and he said after a few months of flying his pilot had a left arm like Joe Louis.
Later marks of the Anson had hydraulically operated undercarriages fitted
I rebuilt Anson TX183 which is now in a museum in Sharjah UAE. At the same time, I looked after WD413.
The one flying in New Zealand is available for joy flights out of Omaka near Blenheim in the South Island. Didn't go on it but saw it flying, December 2019.
My father-in-law flew the Avro Anson in the Canadian Air Force to train navigators. He mentioned the 144 turns to retract and lower the landing gear, which the navigator in training would be responsible for. I’m looking forward to you next video on the Canadian Avro Anson!!
Worth mentioning the floatplane taxi trainer one off used in South Africa, that it was one of the few aircraft used by the USAAF in WW2 as part of reverse lend lease and the Focke Wulf FW 58 Weihe its German equivalent produced in equally high numbers that looked remarkably similar.
My very first flight in an aircraft was in an Avro Anson when I was 5 years old. That was in the early 1950s at an air display at RAF Hooton Park near Liverpool.
My one Grandfather on my mother's side was a mechanic during the World War 2, and worked on these Anson's while stationed in Claresholm Alberta. Meanwhile my other Grandfather on my Dad's side had a farm right beside the base in Claresholm( they didn't know each other) and bought an Anson as war surplus for the farm. My father told me many stories about playing in the Anson bomber while growing up. Eventually both Grandparents move to Chilliwack BC, and both of their children met and had me. Now I have a child, and I decided to name him Anson after the airplane that was a small part of both families histories.
Thanks for the great Video! I am happily assisting in the restoration of an Anson at the Bomber Command Museum in Nanton, Alberta. It is said that the people who will witness the end of this restoration have not been born yet...
As a lad in the 1950s the Anson was well recognized by its engine droning sound.
Large numbers of the Wartime built Anson were in civilian use post war through to the early 1960s when they were permanently grounded.The groundings were brought about due to concerns about the wooden construction wings deteriorating and the glue used in their construction failing. Post war built Ansons, or more correctly Avro 19, were build with metal wings and managed to remain in service for a few years more before being grounded themselves as they reached maximum designed air-frame life. The one Anson still flying today, a mark 1 model has been completely rebuilt and uses a post war built metal wing.
One of the first model aircraft I built at the tender age of six was the 1/72 Airfix Anson Mk I. I’ll always have a soft spot for the Annie. Thanks for sharing!
One of the few aircraft that I actually flew in my career, the Anson is and was a gloriously good aircraft. Gentle and forgiving in almost all situations. Albeit that the one I flew was a very late civil version.
The Mosquito was built in large numbers by De Havilland Australia, and Mosquitoes flew with the Royal Australian Air Force from 1942 to 1953, IT WAS NEVER RETIRED EARLY. During initial building, the problem with the British adhesive in high temperature was found to be problematical, and it was replaced by adhesive that performed better in heat and in high humidity.
AWESOME video! NO music and NO "blurry background" effect 👍👍♥♥
My first Flight ever was in an Anson at RAF Turnhouse in Edinburgh as an “Air Experience Flight” for the ATC. Very enjoyable !
This is my favorite plane of all time
Used to see them regularly over Fife in the '50s. Great plane.
My dad had dreams of becoming a fighter pilot in WW2. The Air Cadets found out he had a type of red/green colourblindness that they figured would let him spot camouflage coverings. So instead, he became a cadet observer out of Boundary Bay, BC, flying in Ansons. They were all yellow, sans turret, with "Shakey Jake" engines. The war ended too soon for hime to get shot at in the Pacific, much to his disappointment at age 18.
There was an Avro Anson operating well into the 1970's at Halfpenny Green Airport near to me.
Halfpenny Green local legend has it was the setting of the WWII film "Reach for the Stars".
My grandfather flew this type in training (amongst other types) in Canada during the war after initial flight training in Australia on Tiger Moths. He went on to fly Short Stirling Mk IV's operationally in Europe and survived the war.
As I've written above, my father graduated from the Empire Training Scheme to be a WO on Catalinas in the Pacific. A group of graduates apart from his went off to join Bomber Command..and most didn't return.
I remember as a child seeing three or four abandoned Ansons under some pine trees at Queenstown Airport (located at Frankton on the shores of Lake Wakatipu New Zealand). This would have been in the mid to late fifties. I have no idea what happened to them.
Recently discovered this channel and just want to say that I absolutely love your content, you’ve nailed the factual to entertainment ratio. Really hope you keep it up.
Ansons operated throughout the war at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. R.A.A.F. No 1 Air gunnery Training School. Thousands of air crew were trained there, also radar training was conducted there; Ansons had converted nose cones to accept radar. Also, at R.A.A.F. Ballarat, B-24 Liberators were stationed there for a period.
A video on the BCATP would be most welcome. I've lived in Manitoba, Canada most of my life and Manitoba is filled with airfields left over from this program.
The city of Brandon, Manitoba has a small but well done museum dedicated to the training program.
My father-in-law was a graduate.
Amazing story. When you compare the design with what was being done in the USA, it looks obsolescent from the start. And yet it goes on for 30 years after its origin, and is adopted by many countries. Maybe being ordinary and boring and reliable has its own special value--a thought that might fortify many of us.
Thank you for these videos. I really happy with all the little aviation history videos I’ve been finding
Also if anyone is interested these planes played a very important part in Britain's defense in that it was used to track the geman radio beams they were using to guide bombers during night attacks, very important work!
I love the picture window style of the cockpit. Talk about it you!
I remember my CO, when I joined the RAF, telling us that he used to fly Ansons. Indeed he flew Churchill to that famous conference in Yalta.
Loved the video @Rex's Hangar! Can't wait for the next video man! Armstrong-Whitworth Albemarle by any chance, because this aircraft also proved itself useful in the Second World war. Originally as a Light Bomber, later as a Glider Tug for the Horsa Assault Gliders as well as a Special Transport Aircraft.
Owned yourself a new subscriber ! Brilliant video mate . More like these! More 20’s and 30’s aircraft would be cool .
I had always thought that this was one of prettiest aircraft ever built. I bet with all those windows in it must have been a little nerve-wracking with all open air!
Good story. I thoroughly enjoyed the “spider infested neighbor” bit. 🤣🤣
Thank you for this very informative video on the Avro Anson. It is sort of the equivalent of the Beechcraft Model 18 here in the USA. An aircraft that was used in many different roles like the Anson was. The Beechcraft Model 18 was actually in production from 1937 to 1970. It was used extensively as a trainer during WWII. I would love to see a video on this aircraft as well. Your videos are well researched and are very informative. Well done!
Holy moly! I didn't know they build so many of these!
2 months so far. If you keep up with this awesome content, your channel will blow up in the aviation community in less than half a year.
Well it MIGHT if he gets the hang of using the correct units of measurement as well as the metric ones ;-p
Any cheap calculator will convert in seconds, why must everyone please the only country in the whole world sticking to 19th century mesurments?@@Farweasel
Great video, love the Gentle Annie.
Fun fact too, you can pay for a charter/scenic flight in the NZ Anson, planned for my 40th this year.
Nice to see "Faithful Annie" get some love. You missed the final Canadian version, the Mk.V, though you do show a photo of one toward the end of the video; it still had the plywood wings (unfortunately, for its survival longterm) but also (equally unfortunately in that context) a molded plywood fuselage and Pratt and Whitney Wasp Junior engines of 450hp. The superb hybrid Mk.I restoration in NZ is in fact the only current flyer. Two Mk.Vs, both used postwar for aerial mineral survey, were flying in Canada until the 1990s but one, its all wood airframe having deteriorated, was dismantled two years or so ago, and the other is stored, unflown for many years. A C.19 postwar variant operated in Britain, also, until about the same time. I've lost track of that one. Its RAF serial iirc was WD413. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Ansons were surplussed in Canada postwar, and thus the cores of a number of airframes survived to be restored for museum display. I have an Anson II propeller in my loft.
They have got one at Sleap Airfield in Shropshire , i believe its the only one in Europe still flying , Sleap is worth a visit if in the area , there is a small museum and the old WW2 control tower is now a Cafe that has great views over the airfield , slighty surreal to be eating a full english on a former WW2 bomber base when an Avro Anson rumbles past .
I would suggest that the title of 'Most famous British training aircraft of the Second World War' belongs more to the De Havilland DH82a Tiger Moth than the Anson. The Anson deserves the title of 'Most famous British twin-engined training aircraft of the Second World War' though. The Tiger Moth served as the ab-initio trainer for the majority of British and Commonwealth pilots, be they later bomber, transport or fighter pilots, the Anson really only trained the guys who'd go on to fly twins.
Just up the hill from us at Yeadon Airfield is the wartime Avro shadow factory where nearly 4000 Ansons were built, not to mention 600 Lancaster. Avro produced some of my favourite aircraft as above plus the 504 biplane and the Vulcan. There is a very smart looking Anson in the shuttleworth collection painted blue and silver.
As Randall mentioned, at 4:52 there is Finnish Anson pictured. The "Hakaristi", sort of Swastika, can be seen under the wing. As most people know, we had the Hakaristi as our air force marking since 1918 when a Swedish Count Von Rosen donated the first aeroplane to the Finns. The Hakaristi was his family symbol, and we took it for our airforce as a tribute for him. As the Swastica is an old symbol of good omen, all the way from ancient India, it can still be seen at the Balcony of the Finnish Presidential Palace, as the railing was forged before Nazis started using Swastika as their symbol. Hysteria around the Swastika is almost laughable; there are model kits that have strange symbols instead of Swastikas, some museum flying warbirds have wrong markings on the rudder, etc. History must not be suppressed just because some people have weak minds. The same people still have no problem with other symbols of "evil", like the Red Star or the Sickle and the Hammer...
The balcony railing is nothing. Take a close look at the flag of the President of Finland.
Living immediately next to the Omaka aviation Heritage centre, which is home to an airworthiness Mk1 Anson, I see this aircraft fly out often. It's quite a sight to behold.
airworthy
Gosh--how many NZers Are there here :-))
My local airfield in the fifties and sixties was Bovingdon. When the USAF was not there, it was a communications base using Ansons. There was also Northolt and I once saw a formation of twelve or thirteen fly over Watford, obviously for some special 'do' and probably connected with Northolt. At one of Elstree's entertaining 'air shows', an RAF Anson treated us to a demonstartion of its incredibly low stalling speed. and I seem to recall that it took 32 turns to lower the undercart...is that right?
There is one on display in Royal New Zealand Airforce Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, which is on the former airbase at Wigram.
When I was at school in Sockburn, in 1967, Form 7.... the airforce practised formation flying in Harvards..distinctive and delightful noise from those engines ;-)--and there are still some flying around......(( Sockburn being a suburb pretty close to Wigram))
If you ever travel to Western Canada, the city of Brandon in Manitoba is home to the British Commonwealth Air Training museum has the Anson as well as the Cornell, Harvard, Bolingbroke, Lysander and even the Hurricane, as well as several period motor vehicles.
I believe that this was the type of aircraft that my father did some training in as an Army Air Observer in WW2 . They were flying along up valley and had to make a tight turn, after they make the turn my dad said to the pilot that he didn't think they were going to make the turn. The pilot replied neither did he. My dad was less keen to continue the training after that.
When you do the video on the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (which I certainly hope you will!), do not forget the Joint Air Training Scheme (JATS) operated in parallel by South Africa during WW2. In fact, the JATS trained the 2nd most (33 347) Commonwealth aircrew after Canada. A good number of Ansons were used in the training role by the SAAF.
Always enjoy these videos about wulwo two aircraft.
Great upload thanks, never knew they built so many.
My Father trained in Ansons for navigation, he said they nicknamed them flying greenhouses. He also flew Mosquitoes in South Africa and mentioned the termite issue was a problem
Thanks, a well done documentary of "the faithfull Annie" . Australia described as "spider infested" is a bit harsh.. we don't want to put off tourism! They are only fatal if they bite ya!
I have flown in an Anson. Quite fun.
Great video. Would love to see a piece on the BCATP. It was an amazing feat of organization and construction and deserves to be remembered for its contribution to VE Day. The Canadian Warbird Heritage Museum at Mt Hope Ontario has a Mark V which I believe, is in flying condition.
Great variety and anecdotes, Rex -- cool to see how it was adapted so quickly. Good historical note about the tropical weather degrading the glued wings -- same thing with the Mosquito, where initial losses to that failure was finally determined; notes like that always prompt my marveling at the immense, constant logistics, effort and tonnage it took to produce and fly it all. Sad footnote: it was a mid-air collision with an Anson which took 19-yr-old poet/Spitfire pilot John Gillespie Magee from the fight... leaving us all with his "High Flight."
Really good video. Thanks and keep up the good work.
I have an uncle who had his training on this aircraft in Canada but he never went to war finally.
Another unsung hero of aviation...
We had a few at the farm as spare parts after the war here in Canada.
Excellent presentation, thank you. Particularly impressed by the excellent colour photos.
Informative as usual - however, I would like to see the imperial measurements given as well for dimensions of aircraft also 🙂
the next few videos are already finished, but moving forward I plan to have text in the video showing measurements in both imperial and metric :D
Aviation speed and altitude are generally imperial
can I just add my two pennorth - what would viewers say to sticking to one or the other, perhaps the units used by the owning country, as some videos I watch which try on all possible occasions to use both can get somewhat irritating. The odd comparison of course never hurts. I hope that comes across as constructive, rather than being an old arse.
@@kkiwi54 Knots for speed & feet for height are the international standards AND are appropriate for Vintage British Aircraft.
That said, quite frequently metric units are used in continental Europe.
Not sure at what point British aero designs switched from Farenheit to Centigrade.
(Most folk would be looking for somewhere to put down swiftly 'though if I they saw CHT reading of 212+ degrees these days.....
Possibly excepting our transatlantic cousins, who insst on doing peculiar things like measuring atmospheric pressure in furlongs or whatever - We keep telling them they should use millipedes (discovered by Hector Pastel) but they take no notice).
@@kkiwi54 RAF aircraft in WW2 used mph, not knots.