  
 Anson
Restoration Project
By Colin
Ainsworth, Project Leader
30 June 2006
Over
the past four weeks Ernie Killen, Mike Dandurand, Peter Campagna, and
Keith Brenson have just about completed both wings. The two landing lights
have been installed in the port wing and the electrical wiring installed
for the lights to the wing root.
 Chuck
Calder and Butch Fleury finished off installing the crew seats, to complete
the task; Peter Campagna surprised us all by making up a complete set
of the seat cushions. These will be installed when the aircraft is
finished next year.
A
few weeks ago when the crew were temporarily installing the starboard wing
they had to remove the tailplane assembly to be able to re-position the
aircraft in the building. Last week with help from the rest of us, Mike
Dandurand and Jerry Aucoin re-installed the tailplane assembly and it is
now ready to cover with fabric in the fall.
Peter
Miller and myself carried on with the electrical wiring and sorted out the
wiring bundles from behind the pilot’s instrument panel and loomed the
wiring bundle down to the junction panel located by the co-pilots seat.
Peter installed the last of the light assemblies in the bomb-aimers
compartment and we both installed the outside electrical heater for some
of the flight instruments
Next
month we hope to start installing the port and starboard wing fillets.
Once they have been repaired and completed by 14 AMS workshops.
One thing we have learned over the
past couple of years is how much we rely on the Wing personnel,
without this help we would not be on schedule.
This
month's "Anson Trivia" is taken from an article "Aircraft
of the BCATP" by Dan Bragg that was published in the "The
Aerospace Museum Of Calgary FlyPast Magazine #7.
The
agreement to form the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) was
signed on December 17 1939, and within weeks decisions were being made
regarding its formation. Among these was that the Avro Anson Mark 1 would
fill the requirement for a twin-engine trainer. After meetings with Avro
and the Ministry of Aircraft Production in England, it was decided that
the majority of Anson parts would be supplied by Britain and shipped to
Canada for final assembly. The only part produced in Canada would be the
large one-piece wing, as it was considered too fragile to ship across the
Atlantic.
During
February 1940 the first contract to build the wings was signed and by
April plans were well underway on selecting a location of the final
assembly plant. In May the British Government, fully involved preparing
for war, let it be known they were no longer able to supply parts for the
Anson and that Canada was on its own. The news did not come at a good time
as the RCAF; busy establishing the BCATP, now found itself without a
twin-engine trainer. On top of this, components, especially those from the
United States, were becoming harder to acquire. However, as the BCATP had
an immediate need for a twin-engine, it was decided to manufacture the
Anson in Canada.
A
Government company, Federal Aircraft Ltd., was set up in Montreal and
given the formidable task of administering the Anson assembly program.
Over six months had been lost from the production schedule and to meet
training plan requirements a number of companies had to be recruited to
manufacture the Mark 11. Over 13 Canadian firms, ranging from de Havilland
of Canada to Cockshutt Plough Co Ltd., were brought together to make parts
and sub-assemblies. In order to save foreign currency, a number of new
companies were started in Toronto to manufacture instruments and
associated components.
Next
month we will continue with more stories from " Aircraft Of The BCATP
by Dan Bragg.
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