Great Britain's Avro Anson trainer

Photos

Avro Anson trainer:	Avro Anson trainer:	Avro Anson trainer:	Avro Anson trainer:
Avro Anson trainer: Aeronautics Aircraft Spotters' Handbook	Avro Anson trainer: Aeronautics Aircraft Spotters' Handbook	Avro Anson trainer in Ireland 1942:
Avro Anson GR Mk I trainer:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer:
Avro Anson Mk I trainer:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer:
Avro Anson Mk I trainer:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer around 1939:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer at Duxford:
Avro Anson Mk I trainer at Skyframe Museum at Staverton:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer in 1945:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer with the RAAF:	Avro Anson Mk I trainer with the RAAF:
Avro Anson Mk I trainer with the RNAF:
Canadian Federal Anson Mk II trainer:
Canadian Federal Anson Mk V trainer:
Avro Anson Mk XII trainer:	Avro Anson Mk XII trainer:	Avro Anson Mk XII trainer:	Avro Anson Mk XII trainer:
Avro Anson trainer:

Design

The Avro Anson was to meet a RAF Coastal Command requirement for a reconnaissance aircraft.^1,2 It was based on the Avro 652 airliner.^1,2,3,4

The Anson's skeleton was made from metal and the skin from wood and fabric.⁴

In January 1936 the rudder area was increased due to some unstability.¹

The pilot had the only controls.¹ The navigator / bombardier sat behind him with a plotting table and instrument panel.¹ The radio operator / gunner sat at the rear of the cabin.¹

The bombardier used a Wimperis Mk VIIB bombsight.¹ He would go through a panel in the floor and move forward to the front of the plane.¹

The turret in the top of the cabin was a manually operated Armstrong Whitworth turret.¹ It had a 7.7 mm Lewis Mk 3A MG.¹ It had five drums of ammunition.¹ When not being used the barrel was lowered into a slot in the fuselage.¹

In 1944 a version had radar installed and the Royal Navy used them for training.¹

Undercarriage

The undercarriage of the Avro Anson was the first RAF plane to have retractable landing gear.²

The rear wheel was fixed and the main wheels required 164 1/2 turns of a handle to raise them.¹ Later models had hydraulically operated gear.¹

Prototype

It first flew on March 24, 1935 and entered service in 1936.^1,2,3

Production

Production models had a 25% increase in the tail plane span and a reduction in the elevator area over the prototypes.¹

3,000 of them had Wright, Jacobs, or Pratt and Whitney engines installed when they were manufactured in Canada.¹
2,882 were constructed in Canada.²

Production continued until 1952 and remained in RAF service until 1968.¹

• Type 652: 4³
• Anson Mk I: 6,742³
• Anson Mk II: 1,832³
• Anson Mk III / Anson Mk IV: 223³
• Anson Mk V: 1,050³
• Anson Mk VI: 1³
• Anson Mk X: 103³
• Anson Mk XI: 91³
• Anson Mk XII: 254³
• Anson Mk 18: 25³
• Anson Mk 19: 325³
• Anson Mk 20: 60³
• Anson Mk 21: 252³
• Anson Mk 22: 34³
• Total: 10,996³, 11,000¹, 11,020²
• Manufacturer: A. V. Roe and Co. Ltd⁴

Variants

• Anson Mk I: Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX (335 HP) or Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah XIX seven cylinder radial engines (395 HP).^2,3
• Anson Mk II: Jacobs L6MB seven cylinder radials (330 HP).³ Produced by Canada.²
• Anson Mk III: Jacobs L6MB seven cylinder radials (330 HP).^2,3
• Anson Mk IV: Wright R-760-E3 Whirlwind radial engines (300 HP).^2,3
• Anson Mk V: Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior radial engines (450 HP).³ Produced by Canada.²
• Anson Mk VI: Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior radial engines (450 HP).³ Produced by Canada.²
• Anson Mk X: Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX seven cylinder engines (335 HP) or Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah XIX seven cylinder engines (395 HP).^2,3 Conversion to transport.²
• Anson Mk XI: Conversion to transport.² Powered by Cheetah XV or XIX engines (420 HP).^2,3 Used Fairey-Reed metal propellars.²
• Anson Mk XII: Conversion to transport.² Powered by Cheetah XV or XIX engines (420 HP).^2,3 Had constant speed Rotol propellars.²

Usage

The Anson was used by Australia, Britain, Canada, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iran, Ireland, Netherlands, Turkey, and the United States.^1,3

First entered service in (March 1936⁴) 1936 with the No. 48 Squadron.¹ It saw it's first combat on September 5, 1939 by attacking a U-Boat.¹ Eventually a total of 8,138 were delivered to the Royal Air Force.⁴

It could turn inside a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and was credited with shooting down 6.¹ Two of these were shot down by the No. 500 Squadron during the evacuation of Dunkirk.¹

From 1941 several air-sea rescue squadrons were outfitted with the Anson.¹

Canada selected the Anson in 1940 to be it's primary trainer.¹ These were mostly Anson Mk IIIs and Mk IVs.²

Finland received three in 1938.¹

Specifications

	Avro Anson	Avro Anson Mk I
Type	Advanced trainer5, Reconnaissance3, Trainer3	Advanced trainer1, Reconnaissance2, Liaison4
Crew		32
Engine (Type)	2: Armstrong-Siddeley Cheetah IX5	2: Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX piston1,2,4
Cylinders		Radial2, Radial 71,4
Cooling		Air1,4
HP	310 each5	350 each1,4
Propeller blades	23
Dimensions
Span	56' 6"5	56' 6"2,3,4 17.22 m2,3
Length	42' 3"5	42' 3"2,3,4 12.87 m2, 12.88 m3
Height	13' 1"5	13' 1"2,3,4 3.99 m2,3
Wing area		463 ft2 2 43.01 m2 2
Weight
Empty		5,361 lb1, 5,375 lb2, 5,512 lb3 2,438 kg1,2, 2,500 kg3
Loaded	7,600 lb5	7,955 lb3, 7,984 lb1, 8,000 lb2,4 3,608 kg3, 3,629 kg1,2
Maximum load		8,500 lb3 3,855 kg3
Performance
Speed	188 mph5
Speed @ 7,000' / 2,130 m		188 mph1,4 303 kph1
Speed @ 7,000 ' / 2,133 m		188 mph3 302 kph3
Speed @ 7,000' / 2,135 m		188 mph2 302 kph2
Cruising speed		159 mph3 256 kph3
Climb @ sea level		750'/minute1 229 m/minute1
Climb		720'/minute2, 750'/minute3 219 m/minute2, 228 m/minute3
Service ceiling		19,000'1,2,4, 19,500'3 5,790 m1,2, 5,944 m3
Range	790 miles5	787 miles1, 790 miles2,4, 820 miles3 1,270 km1, 1,271 km2, 1,320 km3
Armament		2: 7.7 mm MG1 2: MG4
Nose	1: MG5	1: 7.7 mm MG2 1: 0.303" MG3
Dorsal turret	1: MG5	1: 7.7 mm MG2 1: 0.303" MG3
Bombs	360 lb5	360 lb1,2,3,4 163 kg1,2,3