The Avro 652 was a 1930s British light airliner, built by

A.V. Roe and Company AVRO, short for Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep ("General Association of Radio Broadcasting"), was a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system. It was the first public broa ...

. 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-engined, 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) ...

Design and development

In 1933,

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the 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, Order of the British Empire, CBE, FRSA, Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, FRAeS (30 April 1893 – 23 August 1947) was an aircraft design engineer for the Avro Company. Born at Marsh Hall Farm, Farnworth, Widnes, the son o ...

'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 (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main airp ...

. They served with Imperial Airways, mostly operating the route from Croydon to Brindisi. 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, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of Stat ...

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 one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wi ...

, and served with 811 Squadron at

RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent (HMS ''Daedalus'') was one of the primary shore airfields of the Fleet Air Arm. First established as a seaplane base in 1917 during the First World War, it later became the main training establishment and adm ...

, 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 United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Specifications (Avro 652)

References

Bibliography

* * * * *Sturtivant, Ray. 1988. ''The Anson File''. Air-Britain {{Avro aircraft 652 1930s British airliners Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1935 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft