The Avro 652 was a 1930s British light airliner, built by A.V. Roe and Company. It was a twin-engine, low-wing monoplane with a retractable undercarriage, and a tailwheel. Although only two were produced, it formed the basis for the successful

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), R ...

Design and development

In 1933,

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

issued a specification to Avro, for a light airliner to transport four passengers for up to 420 mi (676 km) at a cruising speed of 130 mph (210 km/h). By August 1933,

Roy Chadwick Roy Chadwick, CBE, FRSA, FRAeS (30 April 1893 – 23 August 1947) was an English aircraft design engineer for the Avro Company. Born at Marsh Hall Farm, Farnworth, Widnes, the son of the mechanical engineer Charles Chadwick, he was the chief ...

's team had produced a design study. This had to be revised when Imperial Airways changed the specification, to enable the machine to fly the Karachi-Bombay-Colombo night mail service. The amended design was accepted, and in April 1934 an order for two aircraft was issued. The first aircraft flew on 7 January 1935, and the type was certificated in March 1935.

Operational history

On 11 March 1935, the two Avro 652s were delivered to Imperial Airways at

Croydon Airport Croydon Airport was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. It opened in 1920, located near Croydon, then part of Surrey. Built in a Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical style, it was developed as Britain's main airp ...

. They served with Imperial Airways, mostly operating the route from

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

Brindisi Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position ...

. In 1938, they were sold to Air Service Training Ltd, a civilian company operating under Air Ministry contracts. They served with No.3 E&RFTS (Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School) as navigational trainers, at Hamble airfield. In November 1939, both aircraft were transferred to No. 11 AONS (Air Observers' Navigation School), remaining at Hamble. In March 1941, they were impressed by the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

into RAF service with No. 1 School of Photography. In July 1941, both were transferred to the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

, and served with 811 Squadron at

RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent, (RNAS Lee-on-Solent; or HMS ''Daedalus'' 1939–1959 & 1965–1996 and HMS ''Ariel'' 1959–1965), is a former Royal Naval Air Station located near Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire, approximately west of P ...

, until struck off charge in March 1942.Jackson 1970, p. 140

Aircraft

;G-ACRM :Imperial Airways, named ''Avalon'', later to Fleet Air Arm with serial DG655. ;G-ACRN :Imperial Airways, named ''Avatar'', then ''Ava'', later to Fleet Air Arm with serial DG656.

Operators

; *

Air Service Training Air Service Training (AST) is an organisation in Perth, Scotland, that has been training engineers and pilots for airlines, maintenance organisations and the military since 1931.

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Specifications (Avro 652)

References

Bibliography

* * * * *Sturtivant, Ray. 1988. ''The Anson File''. Air-Britain {{Avro aircraft

652 __NOTOC__ Year 652 ( DCLII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 652 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe fo ...

1930s British airliners Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1935 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft