AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft Plate 52 / 108

Plate 52 of 108 · Second World War · Long-range transport

Avro York

York C.1, painted as G-ANTK, an Avro 685 York C.1 built at Yeadon in 1946 with four Rolls-Royce Merlins as MW232, flown by Nos. 242 and 511 Squadrons of RAF Transport Command and in the Berlin Airlift, then by Dan-Air London on freight work until 1964, used as a bunkhouse at Lasham, and restored by Dan-Air engineers and the Duxford Aviation Society, painted as it is shown at IWM Duxford in Dan-Air London colours: white upper and light grey lower fuselage divided by a red cheatline, a black anti-glare panel on the nose, ‘DAN-AIR LONDON’ titles and the flag-and-compass badge on the fuselage and the white central fin, black outer fins with red caps, ‘DAN’ and ‘AIR’ panels and ‘G-ANTK’, blue-grey wings with black de-icing boots and red tips, a red ‘G-ANTK’ under the port wing, and red spinners with grey three-blade propellers tipped in yellow; the cargo-door outlines are approximate and the cabin windows are shown as flat panels.

3D model

Turn it over

A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as G-ANTK, an Avro 685 York C.1 built at Yeadon in 1946 with four Rolls-Royce Merlins as MW232, flown by Nos. 242 and 511 Squadrons of RAF Transport Command and in the Berlin Airlift, then by Dan-Air London on freight work until 1964, used as a bunkhouse at Lasham, and restored by Dan-Air engineers and the Duxford Aviation Society, painted as it is shown at IWM Duxford in Dan-Air London colours: white upper and light grey lower fuselage divided by a red cheatline, a black anti-glare panel on the nose, ‘DAN-AIR LONDON’ titles and the flag-and-compass badge on the fuselage and the white central fin, black outer fins with red caps, ‘DAN’ and ‘AIR’ panels and ‘G-ANTK’, blue-grey wings with black de-icing boots and red tips, a red ‘G-ANTK’ under the port wing, and red spinners with grey three-blade propellers tipped in yellow; the cargo-door outlines are approximate and the cabin windows are shown as flat panels. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (1.6 MB)

Data plate

Specification

First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (); engine, crew and dimensions are for the York C.1 modelled here.

History

The York

Roy Chadwick’s team at Avro designed the York in 1942 as a transport built from Lancaster parts: the same wing, Merlin power plants, undercarriage and tailplane, joined to a new, much roomier fuselage of square section with the wing mounted high. The prototype, LV626, first flew from Ringway on 5 July 1942 with the Lancaster’s two fins; production aircraft added a third fin in the middle to make up for the deeper fuselage ahead of the tail.

Bomber production came first, so few Yorks were built during the war. Several became VIP aircraft: Winston Churchill used LV633 “Ascalon” on his journeys to the wartime conferences, and others carried Lord Mountbatten and the Duke of Gloucester. After 1945 the York became the backbone of RAF Transport Command, flying troops, freight and mail along the routes to the Middle and Far East.

In 1948 and 1949 RAF Yorks flew tens of thousands of sorties into Berlin during the Airlift, carrying a large share of the food, coal and supplies the RAF delivered to the city. They left RAF service in 1957, but BOAC, British South American Airways, Skyways, Dan-Air and other airlines flew Yorks on passenger and freight work until the mid-1960s. 259 were built, nearly all by Avro.

This airframe

York C.1 G-ANTK (ex-MW232)

G-ANTKThe airframe modelled

G-ANTK was built at Yeadon and rolled out in January 1946 as MW232. It flew with No. 242 Squadron and then No. 511 Squadron at Lyneham on trooping and freight flights, many of them to the Far East, and took part in the Berlin Airlift. Sold out of the RAF, it flew freight for Dan-Air London until April 1964, when it was ferried to Lasham and used as a bunkhouse by the local Air Scouts. Dan-Air engineers began restoring it in their spare time from 1974, and in May 1986 it was dismantled and taken to Duxford on seven low-loaders, where the Duxford Aviation Society completed the restoration. The model shows it as displayed at IWM Duxford in Dan-Air London colours: white upper and light grey lower fuselage divided by a red cheatline, a black anti-glare panel on the nose, “DAN-AIR LONDON” titles and the company’s flag-and-compass badge, black outer fins with red caps and “DAN” and “AIR” panels, blue-grey wings with black de-icing boots and red tips, and red spinners. The cargo door outlines are approximate.

See it at IWM Duxford

Where to see one

In the gazetteer

The gazetteer records the York in 2 UK collections. The airframe modelled here is marked.

Every airframe and serial All 108 plates

Profiles and models are procedural interpretations built in Blender from published dimensions, three-view drawings and photographs of each airframe. Treat the museum aircraft as the reference.