New Home For Anson TX226

TX226 is looking good – best of luck to Montrose with restoring it

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Anson TX226 is now in the recently acquired Burke’s Shed and restoration has commenced with most of the wooden components being removed from the fuselage to reveal the steel tube frame.

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I would love to see a Miles Master display of some artifacts there .From memory I looked at details of eight Master crash sites in the hills up there and all seemed to have a Montrose connection.

Visit report copy and pasted from my report on the Merseyside based NWAN forum. Think members here would appreciate the whole article rather than having to find it from a link.

MONTROSE AIR STATION HERITAGE CENTER, Friday 25th May 2018
471 – RAF Be.2a – (replica) – 2 Sqdn
unmarked as yet – Sopwith Camel – (new replica under construction) NB NOT B5577/W, BAPC.59
DG590 – Miles M2H Hawk Major – genuine aircraft – WW II period trainer scheme
EP121/LO: D – Supermarine Spitfire V – (FSM) – 602 Sqdn ‘Red Lichtie’, outside.
TX226 – Avro C.19 – dismantled, in need of restoration!
WF825/X – Gloster Meteor T.7 – silver overall
XA109 – DH.115 Sea Vampire T.22 – silver/day-glo, Royal Navy markings, no codes
(G-MMLM) – MBA Tiger Cub 440 – ‘Red Baron’ WW1 style marks, ‘sit-in’ exhibit

A small, but delightful heritage museum in a collection of small buildings in the centre of an industrial estate including WWI and WWII hangars. The history of the station set out well, with a fine Be.2a replica illustrating the earliest flying unit. The ‘new’ Camel replica is coming on well with fuselage in a workshop and wings in the initial stages of being linen covered in the Avro C.19 shed. The Museum’s previously exhibited Camel was nowhere to be seen and is apparently considered a substandard replica.

AVRO C.19 TX226

My main interest was the Avro C.19 TX226 which they acquired from deep store in the Coventry area earlier this year. It is predictably not in good shape, but they are confident they can rescue her as they have good woodworking skills (all the wood fittings require attention), while most of the metal frame is there with only light corrosion in places. The wings are metal, however the all-important centre section (one piece across the fuselage but only with one engine mount and undercarriage) was stored outside under wraps, so I could not assess the condition. Having looked over TAC’s Avro 19 G-AGPG before the acquisition and decision by Mike Davey to scrap the fuselage but save the nose, I would say that TX226 is in much better condition and way more complete. A very big job they have taken on to restore her to display, but not working, condition. Having seen the finish quality of the Be.2a, there is hope for the Avro C.19 – they would really have liked an Anson I to be representative of those operated at Montrose early in WWII, but they are somewhat rarer to find as a project than a still far from common available Mk.19!

My second interest in this aircraft is that at one stage in it’s career it was a very frequent visitor to Liverpool Speke in the period I’ve been researching and typing out the logs for. TX226 was operated by the RAF Jurby Station Flight on communications duty for the resident non-flying unit, the OCTU – Officer Cadet Training Unit. TX226 is first noted in the Speke Logs in January 1957, and recorded visiting 107 times over the following four and a half years, last appearing on 12th April 1961 before replacement by TX213 which served at Jurby until the OCTU and Station were closed 30th September 1963. However TX226 did reappear at Speke on two further occasions in 1962 flying from White Waltham and Topcliffe.

Ordered in 1945 and built 1946 as an Avro C.19 series 1 (with wooden wings) by A.V. Roe at their Yeadon (Leeds) factory and delivered to the RAF early Summer 1946. TX226 served with the CBE (Central Bombing Establishment) at RAF Marham and maybe RAF Lindholm, RAF Coningsby Communications Flight, RAF Hemswell Station Flight, 187 Squadron (aircraft ferry unit based Aston Down), OCTU RAF Jurby, FTCCF (Flying Training Command Communications Flight), then to Shawbury 27MU, allocated 7865M January 1965, to RAF Colerne Station Museum 1965. Restored and repainted early ’70s back into standard Transport Command colours. Sold at auction March 1976 on closure of RAF Colerne as surplus to RAF Museum requirements. Purchased by Mr B.Walker, a collector of tractors and aircraft at Watering Farm, East Dereham, Norfolk; moved into storage at Little Staughton airfield, Cambridgeshire in May 1977. Placed as Lot 17 in the August 1984 Christies Aviation Auction at Duxford, however prior to the event was acquired by the I.W.M. for around £1,700 and delivered by road to Duxford 28th August 1984. Initially displayed dismantled on a Queen Mary, but then placed in long-term storage. Purchased by Air Atlantique Historic Flight as a spares source for their flier WD413/G-VROE and moved to Coventry Airport 17th February 1998, later to long-term storage off airfield at Coventry. Acquired by the Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre and moved to Scotland end of April 2018. At least that is what I’ve been able to put together mostly from W&R – anyone have the Air Britain Anson history book and can look up their history for TX226 for me?.

To my amazement in all the b&w photos I have access to, there is not a single photo of TX226 at Speke, lots of other C.19s, but not TX226. She was so common 1957-1961, no one bothered to consider taking a photo of her! Can others who have photos from that period have a good look and see if they can find shots of TX226 as Montrose are interested in finding shots of her as a working aircraft.

Full scale model Spitfire V marked as EP121/LO: D of 602 Sqdn, with presentation aircraft name ‘Red Lichtie’

Gloster Meteor T.7 WF825/X outside near the entrance. The style of the code appears somewhat non-standard and has been changed to that quoted in W&R 24.

A delightful replica Be.2a ‘471’ an aircraft with early WWI local connections

A newly constructed Sopwith Camel replica fuselage, the wings were elsewhere being fabric covered.

Miles M2H Hawk Major DG590 presented in Miles Magister style WWII training colours. Could someone wake-up that mannequin, or at least provide a pillow!

DH.115 Vampire T.11 XA109 in silver and day-glo markings, with Royal Navy on the booms but no unit codes/markings

A Tiger Cub 440 microlight, once registered G-MMLM, now a hands-on experience exhibit for children in spurious ‘Red Baron’ WWI colours.

Aircraft engines in museums often seem lifeless and covered in dust, these engines though looked cared for and in good condition – but what they are though is not my field of expertise!

Fuselage of Avro C.19 TX226 safely installed a dry workshop. Work has yet to commence on her restoration, which is reckoned to be a 6 year project.

The outer wings and horizontal tail surfaces are of metal construction and stacked as it will be some years before the aircraft can be put back together again. The vital one-piece centre-section is currently stored outside under blue sheeting. I walked past it thinking it was a pile of building materials due to a very odd ‘humped back’ shape – caused I find out subsequently by the removal of an engine nacelle and undercarriage. A fact not mentioned by anyone I talked to regarding the complexities of the aircraft’s restoration!

The cockpit area will undoubtedly come to life with restoration and instruments fitted, many of the fittings are still there.

With two WWI replicas finished or on the way to completion, the Museum team are not too concerned over the need to restore or replace much of the wood construction between the metal frame and the fabric outer of the fuselage.

I wonder if there is anything else left at Coventry?

As far as I know most of it but we did get alot of spares with it.

Thanks

Dale

Looked at their website this morning to check on their opening times and if there was public access, as in a few weeks time I will be in the area. Noticed that there are photos of the fuselage and wings arriving in a curtain trailer, and unloaded into a shed – that looks a tight fit!

http://rafmontrose.org.uk/events_2018/

How much of TX226 has arrived at Montrose?

Hi dale,

Congrats to the team on your new acquisition and on the continued progress being made at the museum. The Camel looked to be coming along nicely last time we visited. Will look forward to seeing the Anson in due course 🙂

That is correct that it has arrived and the plan is to restore it after the Sopwith camel is finished in the next few months or so. I have been a member/volunteer there since 2010 till present.

TX226 has arrived at Montrose –

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/angus-mearns/643756/second-world-war-aircraft-to-be-restored-to-former-glory-in-montrose/

Excellent museum at Montrose; I will be sure to visit again when the Anson is there.

Agreed – I’ve been hugely impressed with the work undertaken at Montrose. Its great to see one of the long derelict Ansons in the country getting some attention.

Bruce

Fantastic news!!

After seeing this old girl sat looking derelict at Coventry Airport and then quietly for all those years in store, I hoped so much that it would get restored rather than become spares for another. This has made my day.

Regards,

Rich