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Avro Anson multirole airplane

Based on the prototypes for the civilian Avro 652 six-seat passenger plane, the Avro Anson was intended for use in the maritime patrol and antisubmarine roles. It entered service in 1936. However, it's very light armament rendered it ineffective in this role; one Anson accidentally bombed a British submarine and scored two direct hits with 100-lb bombs – and only broke light bulbs on the sub! The Anson was gradually replaced by newer designs (such as the Lockheed Hudson) starting as early as 1939 but was not completely withdrawn from coastal patrol until 1942.

The “Annie” would have faded into obscurity was it not for the fact that it could be adapted to an important role for the RAF, that of training the crews of multi-engine bombers now entering mass production. Depending on the way the interior was configured, it could be used to train pilots, navigators, radio operators, bombardiers and aerial gunners. However, as the Anson's turret was manual traverse and the new generation of British bombers used powered turrets, this training role was soon abandoned. It also had minor roles as a light transport, air ambulance, communications craft and liaison duties.

In all, some 11,000 Avro Ansons were built (some after the war), with 6,700 being the Mk I. Twenty-nine countries operated the Anson, although most of these users were post-WWII; the primary wartime users were the British, Canadians and Australians. The final RAF Avro Anson was not struck from service until 1968.

Crew consists of a pilot (who also drops the bombs and fires the nose gun), navigator, radio operator, and dorsal gunner. The Anson Mk I uses 23.4 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage.

Subassemblies: Light Fighter-Bomber chassis +3, Medium Fighter-Bomber Wings +3, 2xSmall Weapon pods [Wings:F] +1, partial rotation Small Weapon turret +1, three retractable wheels +1.
Powertrain: 2x260-kW aerial HP gasoline engines [Pods:F] with 2x260-kW props and 255-gallon standard fuel tanks [Wings].
Occupancy: 3 CS, 1 CS Body and Turret Cargo: 16.5 Body

Armor
All: 2/3

Weaponry
Aircraft LMG/Browning Mk II [Body:F] (500).
Aircraft LMG/Vickers GO Mk I [Turret:F] (970).

Equipment
Body: Medium radio receiver and transmitter, navigation instruments, autopilot, bombsight, 200-lb bomb bay. Wings: 80-lb hardpoint each.

Statistics

HT: 9.
HP: 165 [body], 165 [each wing], 38 [each pod and turret], 15 [each wheel]

Design Notes
Design speed was 187 mph. The historical speed has been used, as well as the actual wing area (463 square feet). The cost, weight and HPs of the wings, turret and pods halved. Loaded weight was decreased by 7%.

Normal bomb load in the maritime patrol role was two 100-lb bombs internally and eight 20-lb bombs on external racks.

One annoying feature of the Mk I was that the landing gear had to be hand-cranked to raise or lower it, taking from 140 to 160 cranks. It was not uncommon on short flights for the pilot to just leave the gear down (and accept the 40 mph reduction in speed).

Variants
The Mk II was built in Canada. It used 246-kW engines and powered landing gear. Some 1.800 were built.

The Mk V was also built in Canada, for navigator training. To save strategic metals for more important uses, it used plywood for the fuselage. Just under 1,100 were built.

Some 210 Mk I's were converted to Mk X, XI, and XII light transports an additional 220 Mk XII's built. Many Mk XII's were used as air ambulances. The three types had minor differences but were about he same in game terms. None of these 430 planes were armed.

Related

The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford (1937) was a similar aircraft used from the start for crew training with comparable performance but of smaller size. It had a crew of three, no nose MG and no bomb bay (up to 16 external practice bombs could be carried). Some 4,400 were built.