Anson Restoration Project
April,
2004
by
Colin Ainsworth, Project Leader.
During
April, Ernie Killen, Mike Dandurand, and Keith Brenson concentrated
on the main spar and installing the plywood floor in the radio and
navigators areas.
 14
AMS Workshops (WO Andy Dockrill) completed the repairs to the nose
section that was now ready for us to install.
The
original Aircraft front nose section was missing and a new one
had been obtained to replace it. However the new one was from an
Anson MK5. The question was would it fit? After it had been delivered,
it was felt that maybe we should try to install it to see if it would fit.
The nose section is attached by four 1/2-inch bolts 3ins long to
the front
section of the aircraft. The Anson however was mass-produced by a number
of different manufactures across the country. We positioned the
nose section on two wooden palettes and lifted it up to align the four
bolts, three were in alignment and the fourth was out by a fraction of
an inch. We enlarged the hole and it fit.
Since
we started this restoration project, the team has been amazed
with the consistent high quality of the wartime manufacturers,
considering the shortage of materials and an untrained work force
at the start of the war.
This
month’s "Anson Trivia" is the story of how an Anson
became involved in tree pruning in PEI.
The
following is from the book Wings For Victory by Spencer Dunmore
page 185
It
was a routine trip, one that Grime, the pilot, particularly enjoyed,
because it gave him the opportunity for low flying and Robinson adds,
chance to "scare hell out of the natives as well as his crew...
when we arrived at East Point, Arthur usually went bananas. Skimming
over the waves, he would swing into Souris harbor at high speed, apply
maximum power and climb steeply as our unfortunate navigators struggled
with their clumsy cameras. Directly above the town, he would cut the
power, roll the sturdy crate on its side and dive for a tree-covered
point some distance away."
On
this occasion, Grime headed for the ground with notable panache as bits
of rubbish floated weightless in the trembling fuselage. Robinson
glanced out at the instant of a "sickening shudder" and all he
could see was trees. The pilot poured on maximum power and "there
was a thunderous bang...In matter of seconds, the floor was completely
covered with spruce boughs, and a branch six feet long and one inch
thick rested on a ledge after having passed Arthur's left ear on the way
in.
Staggering,
sans windshield, with a spruce limb thrusting out in front like a leafy
lance, the Anson struggled to acquire a little altitude. A frigid gale
screamed through the narrow confines of the cabin. Robinson had to fight
to make his way up front, where he "viewed the carnage with
amazement. The main problem at this point was the lack of forward
visibility brought about by spruce foliage lodged in the aircrafts
nose" Robinson and the students attempted to reach outside and tear
off some of the branches, but the effort accomplished little. Ninety per
cent of the spruce remained firmly embedded in the aircraft.
The twenty minute flight back to Charlottetown became tense indeed as
the airmen began to realize how much damaged had been done to the Anson
controls. "The use of the elevators tended to turn the aeroplane to
port while at the same time causing loss of altitude."
In spite of his problems, Grime succeeded in keeping the battered Anson
in the air until he put it down safely at Charlottetown. He taxied to
the flight line to the considerable interest of onlookers on the ground
who saw what appeared to be a sizeable spruce growing horizontally out
of the cockpit. After breaking open the distorted hatch with a fire axe
the relieved crew climbed out and surveyed the damage. In addition to
the tree in the nose "an inch was missing from the port propeller,
a branch had cut into the port wing between the engine and the fuselage,
exposing fuel lines but fortunately causing no damage to them. The most
amazing discovery of all recounts Robinson, "was that the tubular
support for both elevators was cut cleanly underneath the rudder, and
both elevator and stabilizer on the port side were missing."
This
story clearly illustrates the ruggedness and construction of the Avro
Anson. Next month we will continue some of the tales from "Wings
For Victory."
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