Avro Heritage Museum

ON THIS DAY
The Avro Type D made its maiden flight on 1st April 1911 when it was flown by Howard Pixton at Brooklands.
In 1911, the fledgling Avro company embarked on a new project to design and build a biplane, bringing to an end the series of triplanes designed by Alliott Verdon-Roe. The decision was partly based upon the success of the competitor’s machines but was also due to the influence of Reginald Parrott, a talented aeronautical engineer and designer who was employed... as Avro’s works manager.
The Avro Type D was a two-seater biplane with lateral control achieved by wing warping. The triangular girder fuselage and monoplane tail bore a striking resemblance to the earlier Roe IV Triplane. After its maiden flight Howard Pixton declared that the aeroplane was ‘stable, viceless and easy to fly', a statement which was supported by a number of pilots who flew the Type D over the following months.
The success of the Type D resulted in the sale of the aeroplane to Commander Oliver Schwann who bought it for £700. Schwann made several modifications to the machine including replacing the undercarriage with floats. On 8th November Schwann became the first British pilot to take off from water in a British aeroplane when he embarked on a flight in the Type D. Unfortunately, Schwann was not a qualified pilot at this time and the aircraft fell back into the water and capsized! The aeroplane was salvaged and trials resumed once the repairs were completed. On 9th April 1912, with S.V. Sippé at the controls, the Type D became the first British seaplane to take off from coastal waters.
Avro went on to build a total of seven Type Ds, many of which were used by the Avro School at Brooklands and subsequently the Avro Flying School at Shoreham. The Type D was entered into several air races and was used by Howard Pixton (together with a Bristol Boxkite) when he won the Manville duration prize on 4th October 1911.
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ON THIS DAY
On 24th March 1935, the Avro 652A Anson prototype K4771 took off from Woodford for its maiden flight in the capable hands of Bill Thorn. It went on to complete trials at Martlesham Heath but the flights weren’t trouble-free; although the aeroplane had built-in stability, feedback identified the need for more tail-plane area and a reduced elevator area. Roy Chadwick began work on these modifications for introduction on the production line.
The Avro 652A Anson was a...ctually an evolution of the Avro 652 airliner designed and built for Imperial Airways. Development began in 1934 when the Air Ministry requested tenders for a maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The prototype differed from the production aircraft in that it had three large windows in the fuselage as opposed to the continuous window of the Anson Mk I. K4771 was also fitted with two 290 hp Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah VI engines whereas the Mk I used 335 hp Cheetah IXs.
The Anson prototype went up against the DH.89M (a military version of the Dragon Rapide) in Service Trials at the Coast Defence Development Unit at Gosport. The competition was fierce but the Avro machine was selected for the RAF’s requirement, having proved to be superior in both range and endurance.
The Anson entered service on 6th March 1936 as the first RAF aeroplane to feature a retractable undercarriage. There were 26 RAF squadrons equipped with the Anson Mk I when war was declared, 10 of which were assigned to Coastal Command. The Anson proved to be a very capable machine throughout the Second World War, serving in a general reconnaissance capacity and also as an effective general-purpose aircraft. The Air Transport Auxiliary also used the Anson as its standard taxi aircraft, affectionately nicknaming the aircraft as ‘Faithful Annie’ due to its excellent reliability. However, the Anson really came into its own in training bomber crews, a role in which it excelled.
Development and production of the Anson continued until 1952 and a total of 11,020 aircraft had been built by the time manufacturing ceased, more than any other Avro type. Quite a remarkable history and something which should be celebrated today, the 85th anniversary of the first flight.
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We sincerely hope that by August we will be through this very difficult period of our lives and we can celebrate at our Air Fair on August 8th and 9th.
The great news is that we have received confirmation that the BBMF Lancaster will fly past on both days.
Our best wishes to all our supporters. Keep safe and healthy. Let us remain optimistic and see you all in August.

What happens next?
New blog post just up on the website explaining the implications of the Museum's temporary closure.
https://www.avroheritagemuseum.co.uk/post /temporary-closure

Onwards and upwards!
The team are planning to keep things moving by publishing posts about all things Avro.
First up, a lovely photograph of an Avro York. A real workhorse and used extensively during the Berlin Air Lift to keep the city supplied. We are looking at getting a fleet airborne again to bring regular supplies of toilet roll to a supermarket near you very soon!

🚨 IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨
The Avro Heritage Museum is temporarily closed as of 18th March due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
The health and wellbeing of our visitors and volunteers is our highest priority. In line with the latest advice from Public Health England, the Avro Heritage Museum will be closed temporarily from 4.00pm on 18 March until at least 1 May 2020.
... While we are closed, please keep in touch by visiting our social media channels and our website. We will continue to update them with the latest information.
We look forward to seeing you again soon.
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We'd like to give a big thank you to all of the women who volunteer at the Avro Heritage Museum, for their hard work and dedication over the years! And of course for keeping the male volunteers in check!
#InternationalWomensDay

Our first event of the year is a visit by the North Staffs Military Vehicle Group on Sunday 19th April.
The Group will be bringing a fleet of heavy vehicles which are rarely seen out and about. These mighty beasts each weigh in excess of 2,500kg and are guaranteed to turn heads.
The vehicles will be arriving from 11:00am onwards.
... Full details are on our website: https://www.avroheritagemuseum.co.uk/mili tary-vehicles-visit
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We're very excited to announce our programme of events for 2020. Here is the full list:
- North Staffs Military Vehicle Visit (Sunday 19th April) - National Drive It Day (Sunday 26th April) - Joint celebration for the anniversaries of VE Day and Lancaster S-Sugar's 100th Operational Sortie (Friday 8th May)... - Avro Air Fair 'Wings & Wheels' (Sat/Sun 8th & 9th August) - Heritage Open Day (Sunday 13th September) - Colonel Rich Graham 'Phantoms over Vietnam' Talk (Thursday 17th September) - Cockpits and Cars Day (Sunday 27th September) - Vulcan QRA Night Photoshoot (Tuesday 17th November)
Please head over to our website for more details: https://www.avroheritagemuseum.co.uk/even ts
We will make more announcements closer to each event.
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Some of you may have already noticed that an updated version of our website has recently been relaunched. Changes include a redeveloped archive section with pieces about the aircraft built by Avro, information on former Avro sites, and a biography about the man himself, Alliott Verdon-Roe. We hope you like what we have done.
We’re looking forward to revealing an exciting programme of events for 2020 which our team are currently finalising. The highlight will of course be the ...annual two-day Avro Air Fair which will be taking place in August. Stay tuned for an announcement!
The Museum is now taking bookings for group tours and car club photoshoots for the year ahead, details can be found on our website. These are very popular events and our calendar soon fills up so don’t delay!
Finally, a special thanks to all the Poynton Waitrose shoppers who raised over £300 through the green token scheme. There was also some interest in making donations to the Museum when our Vulcan was damaged in the recent storm. There is now a donations page on the website and, as always, we are very appreciative of all our supporters.
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We have a great story to tell you about today when the daughter of Sqn Ldr (Ret'd) William 'Geoff' Green DFC visited the Museum.
Geoff truly is a wartime hero and recently celebrated his 100th birthday. Assigned to the legendary Phantom of the Ruhr Lancaster in 1943 as rear gunner, Geoff went on to complete 51 operational sorties.
During his time with 100 Sqn, Geoff shot down a jet fighter (Me262) for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. It was the first time ...that such an aircraft had been shot down by Bomber Command.
Geoff's daughter, Laura, was shown inside our replica Lancaster S Sugar and was absolutely thrilled, having not been in a Lancaster before.
Laura had brought her father's log book, medals, and various other artifacts and kindly allowed us to take copies for our records. We would like to share some of these with you.
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* Limited Lancaster cockpit tour availability Friday 14th February *
There will be a film crew at the Museum on Friday 14th February. They will be filming inside the Lancaster cockpit and interviewing a lady called Lillian Grundy, who made parts for Lancasters at Avro's Newton Heath works during the war. As a result, the availability of Lancaster cockpit tours will be limited. Normally we don't allow filming on public days but it was the only day the film crew could manage. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Vulcan XM603 storm damage update
Members of our maintenance team got straight to work today repairing the damage Storm Ciara caused to our Vulcan.
Closer inspection revealed that the wind had ripped some aluminium sheeting off of the rivets holding it in place. The sheeting was added during the restoration to cosmetically improve the badly corroded elevon. Fortunately the damage looked a lot worse than it was.
... The first job was to clamp the sheeting in place so that further work could be carried out. The old rivets were removed and replaced with new ones.
The wind had entered through a gap in the trailing edge of the wing and caused the sheeting to 'balloon' upwards. To stop this from reoccurring, a strip of aluminium was fixed to the trailing edge and additional rivets were fixed to the centres of the panels.
Museum members Peter L, John G, Dave J, and Al S did a great job, working in bitter winter conditions to get the repair finished. Some minor cosmetic work will complete the job once the weather improves!
Photos © Mike Batty
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We’ve had a lot of messages and such recently in reference to the Handley Page Victor XH673 at Marham becoming available... Unfortunately, she won’t be making what would be a return to Woodford for many reasons...
The poor thing is in right old state and is an empty shell. We have not got the room currently to accommodate her even if we could afford it.
A former Victor Crew Chief, Peter Biggadike, posted a video of the process undertaken to dismantle and move her from airside... to the parade ground at Marham. It is not a quick process, taking weeks and the fuselage fell off its mountings whilst being transported within the base. This damaged the fuselage.
The costs of a move would be well into 6 figures even if we had the space - know anyone with particularly deep pockets? 😁
From our point of view, a Victor cockpit would be a great addition as the Victor is an important part of Woodford history but, it needs to be populated.
Hopefully someone decides to save her so it’s fingers crossed.
https://www.edp24.co.uk/…/raf-marham-of fering-free-victor-j…
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Sadly our beloved Vulcan XM603 took a bit of a battering by Storm Ciara today. It looks as though the covering of one of the elevons which was repaired during the restoration has been ripped off. Our excellent maintenance team will take a closer look and soon have her back to looking her best.
Thanks to Warren, one of our members, for the excellent footage!

603 looking as majestic as ever in the mist today. Taken by Warren Mckend one of our volunteers.

We have had a brilliant 2019, we look forward to a busy 2020!
Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year to each and every one of our followers.
From all of us at the Avro Heritage Museum.