Avro Anson

Trainer · Avro · United Kingdom

Typical crew	4
Engines	2 × Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah
First flight	1935
Number built	11,020

Photographs

Avro Anson ExCC — Avro Anson

ⓘ licence & credit
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Anson_ExCC.jpgView source & full licence →

Avro Anson - Royal Air Force Transport Command, 1943-1945. CH16482 — Royal Air Force Transport Command, 1943-1945. The interior of Avro Anson C Mark XI, PH693, of No. 167 Squadron RAF at Hendon, Middlesex, looking forward from the passenger compartment to the cockpit. The aircraft's four-letter Transport Command callsign 'OAGF' can be seen painted on the instrument panel to the right.

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Royal Air Force official photographer, Miller (Flt Lt) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Anson_-_Royal_Air_Force_Transport_Command,_1943-1945._CH16482.jpgView source & full licence →

Aircraft of the Royal Air Force in the Second World War- 1939-1945- Avro 652a Anson. MH133 — Aircraft of the Royal Air Force in the Second World War- 1939-1945- Avro 652a Anson. Anson Mark I, L9150, of No. 1 Coast Artillery Cooperation Unit, on the ground at Gosport, Hampshire.

ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_in_the_Second_World_War-_1939-1945-_Avro_652a_Anson._MH133.jpgView source & full licence →

Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Avro 652a Anson. C2119 — Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Avro 652a Anson. Two Anson Mark Is, K6285 and N9742, of No. 321 (Dutch) Squadron RAF based at Carew Cheriton, Pembrokeshire, flying north-west of Tenby. K6285 still bears the unit code letters ('MW') of No. 217 Squadron, to which it formerly belonged.

ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Avro_652a_Anson._C2119.jpgView source & full licence →

135 MU. Gebel Hamzi 29 — 135 MU Gebel Hamzi

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Unknown authorUnknown author / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:135_MU._Gebel_Hamzi_29.jpgView source & full licence →

About

The Avro Anson was one of the most widely used and best-loved aircraft in RAF history. Developed from a small 1930s airliner to meet a coastal-reconnaissance requirement, it first flew in 1935 and entered service the following year — notably as the RAF’s first monoplane with a retractable undercarriage, though the gear had to be wound up by hand through some 140 turns of a crank.

Obsolete as a combat aircraft by 1939, the “Annie” found its true vocation as a trainer. As the RAF and the Commonwealth air-training scheme expanded explosively, the Anson became the standard machine for teaching navigators, wireless operators, bomb aimers and gunners — and earned deep affection as “Faithful Annie”. Reliable, docile and forgiving, it also served as a light transport and communications aircraft. More than 11,000 were built in Britain and Canada, and it soldiered on in RAF service until 1968.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Avro Anson 1 — RAF Museum and Avro Anson — Wikipedia. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Engines

Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah — 7-cylinder air-cooled radial, 13.65 litres