48 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS
A
lthough it was derived from
the famous Avro Lancaster
heavy bomber – and shared a
number of common sections – the
York transport was developed at a
slow rate.
The aircraft traces its history back
to 1941 when Avro’s chief designer,
Roy Chadwick, decided to investigate
the possibility of creating a simple-to-
build four-engined airliner ready to
corner any post-war sales markets.
The design, designated Type 685,
paired the Lancaster’s wings, tail
assembly, undercarriage and Rolls-
Royce Merlin engines, with a new
square-section fuselage that
provided twice the internal capacity
of the bomber.
With board approval, Chadwick’s
team began working on a prototype
(LV626), which flew for the first
time on July 5, 1942. The aircraft
performed well but was deemed to
be laterally unstable, so a third tail
fin was soon fitted to provide more
adequate control. It was then passed
to the RAF for evaluation and the
Air Ministry issued an order for
three more prototypes and an initial
production batch of 200 aircraft.
The fourth prototype (LV639) was
equipped as a paratrooper transport,
complete with ventral droppingdoors. However, flight testing
revealed the York was unsuited to
this role as the slipstream pulled
the parachutes towards the non-
retracting tailwheel. The risk of
entanglement was deemed too high.VIP AIRCRAFT
York production was sluggish in the
beginning, mostly due to shortages
of materials and the need for Merlin
engines in frontline aircraft. Avro
was also contracted to produce
large numbers of Lancasters, and
officials deemed transports to be lessimportant. As such, by the end of
1943, just the four prototypes and
three production examples had been
manufactured; the latter sent to 24
Squadron at RAF Northolt for use
as VIP transports.
During 1944, production rose to
three aircraft per month, with early
build airframes used mostly as
VIP transports.
The third prototype (LV633) was
luxuriously appointed to become
the personal transport of Winston
Churchill. Named Ascalon (after the
sword with which St George slew1918 2018AVRO
YORK
1944 TO 1957
YORK
Type: Five-crew transport aircraft
First fl ight: July 5, 1942, entered service August 1944
Powerplant: Four 1,280hp (954kN) Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 piston engines
Dimensions: Span 102ft 0in (31.10m), length 78ft 6in (23.90m)
Weights: Empty 40,000lb (18,150kg), all-up 65,000lb (29,480kg)
Max speed: 298mph (479km/h) at 21,000ft (6,400m)
Range: 3,000 miles (4,800km)
Capacity: 56 passengers or 20,000lb (9,100kg) of cargo
Replaced: Douglas Dakota
Taken on charge: 208
Replaced by: Handley Page HastingsAVRO YORK C MK. I
Right
The York shared the
wings, tail, engines and
undercarriage of the
Lancaster but benefi ted
from a square section
fuselage.