It was one of aviation history’s most dramatic freak accidents. On September 29, 1940, in Brockelsby, Australia, two massive Avro Ansons crashed mid-air while banking a turn at 1,000 feet above the ground. Metal clamped onto metal as the training planes became entangled. The crew of the lower aircraft immediately bailed, sensing the impending doom.
Jack Hewson, pilot of the lower plane, stayed behind; he trusted the unique capabilities of his old Anson and revved its engines to full throttle, compensating for the sudden, crushing weight that threatened to drag them both from the sky. Familiarity and instinct kicked in as Hewson’s hands danced across the controls of the plane Pilots called “Faithful Annie.”
Though primarily used as a training and tech-testing platform, the modest, British wooden Anson was about to have its famed reliability pushed to the very limit of what was imaginable as pilot Leonard Fuller braced himself for the unthinkable: an attempt to land his warplane with another Anson stuck below it.
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Thanks – I did not know this and i am 71 yrs old. Quite a marvel of aviation history, and without Dark skies i would have missed this historic history behind the Anson.. Subscribed and i will binge watch you videos, do not want to miss anything else.. Great channel, well documented and narrated. 🙂 from SE Texas Bear
Once more the principle of "Keep It Simple Stupid!" roars up to greet us. It may have been a basic beast and definitely no prom queen but, it was reliable, sturdy and easy to fly. Nothing fancy. Just something that worked.
Another great video of a unsung aircraft
A mid-thirties war distant engine is hardly going to measure up to a more legendary, and later, engine such as the Twin Wasp!
4:43………Isn't that a turboprop conversion, and not a standard DC-3?
4:43……Isn't that a turboprop conversion and not a standard DC-3? 😎
Such a shame that this is marred by incorrect clips of the wrong planes. Blenheim and Wellington and even a Hurricane.
As an RAF Air Cadet in C1961, with another, I travelled from Old Sarum to Upavon in an older Anson. In flight, one engine spluttered, and was shut down. Soon, the second began to surge and slow… The Second Pilot came back to the Passenger Cab and said, "No worries lads"… The wings were rising and falling, like…er, bird's wings. On finals, the remaining engine almost died, but the Crewman said – "You know Ansons, this could glide to Paris with ease like this". We landed softly, and as we taxied to park, BOTH engines sprang back into life. "See, just like I said". The trip back was uneventful for me, in a Wartime Harvard, back to Old Sarum to watch the huge Argosies and Beverleys landing and taking off on the grass fields.
I agree, good video, … but a bit shorter were great ! Regards !
Ummm… why give speeds in kilometers for a British WW2 aeroplane?
this happened to a pair of american bombers in the same war
I've red about this plane when I was a kid back in the 90's. Got to admit it' got some nice & classy looks.
Miraculous story. When I read the title, I thought this video would be about the Israeli F-15 incident.
They used to operate Ansons for short haul passenger services up the East coast of NSW after the war. Dad once told me of a flight he took as a young lad up to the mid north coast. He clearly remembers being invited up to the pilots cabin and seeing down thru the rivet holes in the floor.
The view from inside the fuselage looks superb with those large windows. And an interesting piece on the Anson, 👍🏻.
I live just down the road from Brocklesby. I believe Fuller got into some trouble and was confined to barracks and docked 7 days pay for speaking about the incident with the local newspaper.
Complimentary algorithm enhancement comment!😊
That was amazing. Does anyone if one of these aircraft still exists?
My father was doing his training there at the time of the accident and took many photographs of the crashed aircraft, which we still have
Live and learn. I had never heard of this aircraft yet it had such a large role in aircraft history. 🤔 Thanks for posting this factoid.
Great video. Thanks. My Dad trained in Ansons at CFB Centralia near Huron Ontario
The Avro Anson was more dogma than outdated, and not particularly efficient. The hardware was first class, but the airframe was a throw away.
Good information about an unglamorous but important aircraft. And what an eclectic collection of video clips – very interesting, yet having nothing to do with the Anson or the story.
My Dad was RAAF in the early 50s and he told me they used this instance as part of their training. I knew I'd seen it somewhere before. Thanks for the detailed review.
I'm curious if the pilot was saying prayers for a safe landing, if anything like divine intervention is acknowledged
My father actually went to the crash site and took photos. He was in the RAAF Reserve at the time. Just before he died in the 2000's, he loaned the enlarged photo to someone and of course it was never returned to the family. The local pub at Brockelsby had the nose cone of one of the planes in its beer garden for years. It wasn't recognised by many people as being of any importance
My Dad on troopship round the Cape to Egypt saw Ansons on sub-patrols.
Stop with the big red arrows !
Rather than show clips of the wrong aircraft why not just show the correct aircraft clips for longer.
I like the DC3 with turboprop engine at 4:42
Thank you for a very informative video about the Anson. It had a lot in common with the Beechcraft Model 18 in the USA.
What an exciting video!
War thunder in real life 😂
Massive avro Anson's!?!😂
I appreciate all of these interesting videos. Thank you!
Yes, every dog (sorry Annie) has its day. I remember reading this story, does anyone else? As the video tells at the time of Dunkirk the RAF put every aircraft available into the air to cover the evacuation, including Ansons. One of these was jerry-rigged with additional machine guns firing from the windows and a 20mm Oerlikon cannon beneath the nose. It was this aircraft claimed the 2 Anson kills over Dunkirk, one when an Bf109 attempted a head-on attack!.
Stop adding in unrelated film of differently aircraft, will you? Not only Blenheims made it in, but some single engined aircraft as well!
You love showing airplane pictures in your videos that are way out of whack chronologically with respect to the subject, like turboprop powered DC-3's, for example.
My father did his early wireless and gunnery training in Avro Ansons and Fairey Battles before transitioning to an RAAF Hudson Squadron in Darwin in WW2.
My neighbour, Jack Travers, was an RCAF pilot, flying an Anson on sub patrol over the Gulf of St. Laurence (Canada), or maybe the estuary, when engine trouble forced a landing on the water. All survived, and his crew complimented him on the smoothest landing he had yet achieved! God rest your soul, Jack!
The Anson's big role, and it was a major contribution to our victory in WWII, was as a "flying classroom" to the Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada. That plane served as an instructional aid to student pilots, navigators, and radar operators from all over the commonwealth.
Fun fact. The Anson was used to locate the Knickerbein radio beam navigation system used by Germany in 1940.
You are the first person in the world to describe Ansons as massive.
On reflection, it's clear why this video's titled "The Fake WW2 Bomber." With a bomb load of 160 measly kilograms, the Avro Anson certainly wasn't seriously meant to bomb anyone!
You keep using the wrong footage. Such as an Airspeed Envoy it a Lockheed Electra to illustrate an Anson. Don't you care or don't you know? Spoils an otherwise good production.