Fly Past

A W ARGOSY 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 71

Series 100 version received Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) type
certification on December 2, 1960.

MILITARY USE
Although requirement OR323 had
been long cancelled, the RAF still
needed an aircraft to replace its
piston-powered Vickers Valetta and
Handley Page Hastings transports,
which were then reaching
obsolescence. In mid-1959, the
Air Ministry drew up a
specification for a military
derivative of the AW.650 Argosy,
which had already demonstrated
excellent performance.
The RAF envisaged using the
aircraft as a medium-range transport
as well as a paratrooper and supply
asset. Engineers at AW set to
work on modifying the airframe
and the resultant AW.660 was
significantly different. The floor
was strengthened, and the rear
cargo doors were changed from a
side-opening design to a clam shell
format with built-in loading ramp.
The latter would facilitate the air
dropping of supplies while doors
were fitted to either side of the rear
fuselage, enabling paratroopers to

INTO SERVICE

The first Argosies to enter service

were the aircraft ordered by Miami-

based Riddle Airlines, whereas

British European Airways debuted

the type in the UK.

Initial RAF examples reached the

Operational Conversion Unit at RAF

Benson in November 1961, and the

following February 114 Squadron

became the first operational unit to

equip with the type.

The RAF also allocated Argosies

to 70 Squadron in Cyprus, 105

Squadron in the Middle East, 215

Squadron in Singapore as well as 115

and 267 Squadrons at home.

All 56 RAF Argosies were built

and operated as C.1 variants, which

could be used in full passenger or full

cargo fit, or combinations thereof.

The type could also be employed

for air dropping, casualty evacuation

and VIP duties, while some were

later converted for different roles

including 12 that became E.1

sub-types for calibrating airfield

navigation aids.

On March 23, 1970, Argosy

XP444 of 70 Squadron departed

El Adem, Libya, and so became the

last RAF aircraft to be based on the

African mainland.

Five years later in February 1975,

70 Squadron, by then based at RAF

Akrotiri, Cyprus, retired the final

Argosy C.1; the aircraft having been

gradually replaced in RAF service by

the Lockheed C-130 Hercules

since 1970.

The final RAF Argosy to fly was an

E.1, retired by 115 Squadron

in 1978.

A W ARGOSYA W ARGOSYA W ARGOSYA W ARGOSYA W ARGOSYA W ARGOSYA W ARGOSY

Series 100 version received Federal

The first Argosies to enter service

were the aircraft ordered by Miami-

exit at speed. These new doors were based Riddle Airlines, whereas

tested on the second Series 100

civilian Argosy from July 1960.

At the front the nose door was

sealed, and the aircraft fitted with

a 3ft (91cm)-diameter pimple-like

weather radome – the suggestively

shaped nose led to RAF crews

christening the aircraft the

‘Whistling Tit’!

The military version of the Argosy

had Dart 101 turboprops and had

twice the range of the earlier AW.650;

the first of 56 RAF machines took to

the skies on March 4, 1961.

The service aircraft could

accommodate 69 troops, 48 stretcher

cases or 29,000lb (13,154kg) of

freight. It could carry Saracen and

Ferret armoured cars, as well as a

105mm howitzer.

later converted for different roles

including 12 that became E.1

Above

Argosy C.1 XR106 fi rst

fl ew on January 9,

1963 and operated

briefl y with 267

Squadron before

joining 115 Squadron

at RAF Changi,

Singapore in July

that year. It returned

to the UK in 1968 as

part of the 114/267

Squadron pool at

RAF Benson. In 1975,

XR106 was sold to

Hants and Sussex

Aviation for spares.

ANDY HAY/WWW.

FLYINGART.CO.UK

Below left

Argosy XN814 was

the fi rst AW660 to fl y.

It was operated by

Armstrong Whitworth

and the Aeroplane

& Armament

Experimental

Establishment, until

it was converted to

an E.1 in 1967 for

calibrating airfi eld

landing aids. The

aircraft joined 115

Squadron in January

1968 and later served

with the Empire Test

Pilots’ School before

being scrapped in

July 1977.

Bottom left

Argosy XP411 is the

sole example of an

ex-RAF machine on

display in the UK. The

aircraft was built as a

C.1 in 1962 and served

with 105 Squadron at

home in the UK, and

in the Middle East

until 1968. It then

joined the 114/267

pool at RAF Benson

and operated with

70 Squadron and

6 Flying Training

School, before

being retired to RAF

Cosford for ground

instruction in 1975.

In 1988 it transferred

to the resident RAF

Museum and has been

on display at the

Shropshire attraction

ever since. STEVE

BRIDGEWATER