Aeroplane Monthly 1990-07
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J.Yoxall - They who dared first (3)
Bill Thorn with an Anson in 1947. Born on August 13, 1901, Sidney Albert Thorn was A. V.Roe’s chief test pilot at the time of his death.
AVRO ANSON: General reconnaissance (two Cheetah IX engines - 350 h.p. each at 6,000ft.); span, 56ft. 6in.; gross weight, 7,650 lb.; max. speed, 188 m.p.h. at 7,000ft.
K6152 was the first production Avro Anson I, making its maiden flight on December 31, 1935. The type entered RAF service in March the following year, with 48 Squadron. The last Anson, actually an Avro 19 T.21, was flown away from Yeadon in May 1952 and the type was finally retired from the RAF in 1968.
"Bill" Thorn at the controls of an Avro York, circa 1946. Inset photograph, Bill Thorn, right, with Avro chief designer Roy Chadwick. Both men died when Tudor 2 G-AGSU crashed on August 23, 1947.
The Avro Tudor II Airliner (four 1,740 h.p. Rolls-Royce Merlin 621 engines).
The Tudor 2 in which Bill Thorn lost his life on August 23, 1947. The 79ft 6in span airliner had an all-up weight of 80,000lb.
Почти все бомбардировщики Manchester испытывали в ходе эксплуатации те или иные проблемы с силовой установкой. На снимке: Manchester Mk 1A (L7515) из состава 207-й эскадрильи - первой, получившей данный тип самолета, авиабаза Уоддингтон.
The Avro Manchester, powered by the disappointing and unreliable Rolls-Royce Vulture, was a medium-heavy bomber with a crew of seven. It entered RAF service in November 1940 but had been phased out by mid-1942.
Bill Thorn leading a flight of 17 Sqn Hawker Woodcocks.