The Avro Anson was originally a maritime reconnaissance aircraft derived from the 1935 Avro 652, a commercial 6-seat airliner. Soon after the beginnings of WW2 it became obvious that the Avro Anson was already obsolete in it's maritime reconnaissance role, remaining aircraft were transferred to a training role for the crews of RAF Bomber Command's two and four engined aircraft where they made a great contribution to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, after the war they continued to be used by the RAF, finally being retired in in June 1968. When production of the Avro Anson ceased in 1952 after 17 years of production, a total of 11,020 aircraft had been produced. It is of note that Avro produced a transport and communications variant or the Anson for the RAF, the Avro Anson C-19, and later sold the aircraft to commercial customers as the Avro Anson Nineteen. The Avro Anson T21 navigation trainer pictured above is part of Air Atlantique's Historic aircraft flight and
was photographed at the 2006 Bigin Hill Air-show. Avro Anson Specification: Crew: 3 or 4 Length: 42 ft 3 in (12.88 m) Wingspan: 56 ft 6 in (17.22 m) Height: 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) Empty weight: 5,512 lb (2,500 kg) Maximum weight: 8,500 lb (3,856 kg) Engines: Twin 350 hp Armstrong-Siddeley Cheetah IX radial engines Maximum speed: 188 mph at 7,000 ft (303 km/h at 2,100 m) Range: 790 miles (1,271 km) Service ceiling: 19,000 ft (5,791 m)
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