Avro Anson 1 VH-WMA, CSIRO (State Library of NSW FL3423324)
By Roger Lambert
History
The Anson was built by A.V. Roe and Company Limited at the Newton Heath shadow factory in 1941 to Royal Air Force order as W2374. The airframe was shipped to Australia under the Empire Air Training Scheme. On 27 July 1941, the aircraft was received at No.1 Aircraft Depot, Laverton, Victoria for erection and was taken on RAAF charge as W2374. 29 November 1941 saw the Anson received at No. 6 Service Flying Training School (6 SFTS) Mallala, South Australia ex 1AD. Being a training environment, W2374 was involved in a number of accidents while on the strength of 6 SFTS:
11 Feb 42 - forced landing 12 miles south of Mallala due engine trouble with no airframe damage.
19 Jan 43 - landed at Lower Light Satellite Field with undercarriage retracted with minor damage.
28 Dec 43 - collided with Anson W2145 during landing at Mallala but this time significant damage was incurred.
W2374 was issued to Guinea Airways, Parafield for repair and complete overhaul on 15 January 1944 and returned to 6 SFTS on 22 January 1945 being stored there from 21 May 1945. The Anson was passed to Airflite Pty Ltd for complete overhaul on 9 November 1949 before being transferred on 23 December 1946 from 6 SFTS to the Benalla Care and Maintenance Unit for under cover storage. Moved 11 November 1948 to No.1 Aircraft Depot (1 AD) Detachment B, Tocumwal for under cover storage. The Anson was eventually passed to No. 2 Aircraft Depot (2AD) at Richmond, New South Wales on 4 September 1950 after a complete overhaul at Mascot. The aircraft was collected from 2AD on 12 September 1950 and returned to 1AD Detachment B, Tocumwal. W2374 was returned to 2AD Richmond on 9 December 1953 where the authority for disposal was issued on 6 October 1954.
W2374 was sold by the Department of Supply to the CSIRO on 27 January 1955. Application for civil registration was made on 5 May 1955 by the Radio Physics Division of the CSIRO. As the Anson was earmarked for rain making experiments, silver iodide burners were installed under the wing tips. The Certificate of Airworthiness was issued 8 July 1955 with civil registration VH-WMA. The Anson was based at Sydney Airport (Mascot) and mantained by Butler Air Transport on contract for CSIRO. Major cloud seeding operations were carried out in Snowy Mountains (NSW), Darling Downs (QLD), the Warren/Haddon Rig (NSW). August 1959 saw the Anson operating out of Port Pirie, South Australia.
On 24 November 1958, VH-WMA arrived in Sydney from Queensland in poor condition and in need of a major overhaul. The Anson had been operating at Conzinc Rio Tinto Australia's Mary Kathleen uranium mine out of Cloncurry. The aim was to increase rainfall in the catchment area for the Corella Dam which supplied the mine and town. As an aside, the CRA contract was continued by Cessna 310, VH-REK. November 1958 saw the CSIRO retire the Anson which was replaced by Cessna 310Bs VH-REK and VH-REL; these aircraft had been imported new by CSIRO in November 1957. Dec 58 VH-WMA is sold "as is" to Adastra Airways Pty Ltd, Sydney Airport (trading as Adastra Aerial Surveys).
On 21 July 1959, an application for registration was made by Adastra Airways Pty Ltd. However, DCA advised on 23 July 1959 that the requested registration VH-AGO was not available whereas Adastra nominated VH-AGJ instead. However, on 20 August 1959, DCA advised that no more Anson types would be approved for use on commercial operations. The Department further advised that a condition of purchase from the Department of Supply, on retirement by the CSIRO, the aircraft would be converted to spares. The bottom line was simply that the application for registration would not be approved and that action was being taken to remove VH-WMA from the Civil Aircraft Register.
The Anson was struck off the register on 16 December 1959. VH-WMA was noted derelict at Mascot in 1959 and in May 1962, was noted stored at the side of the Adastra hangar with wings cut off outboard of engines. There was no fuselage fabric, and fire damage was noted to the port engine and nacelle. 1963 saw the remains of the Anson taken away as scrap.
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