Fly Past

HAWKER SIDDELEY ANDOVER 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 75

Type: Three-crew tactical transport

First fl ight: December 1963, entered service June 1966

Powerplant: Two 3,245shp (2,420kW) Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops

Dimensions: Span 90ft 0in (27.43m), length 77ft 11in (8.51m)

Weights: Empty 27,709lb (12,569kg), all-up 44,500lb (20,185kg)

Max speed: 302 mph (486km/h) at 15,000ft (4,572m)

Range: 2,700 miles (4,345km)

Capacity: 44 troops, 26 paratroopers, 18 stretchers or 14,000lb (6,350kg)

of cargo

Replaced: Vickers Valetta, Handley Page Hastings

Taken on charge: 37 (31 C Mk.1s, six CC Mk.2s)

Replaced by: Lockheed C-130 Hercules

HAWKER SIDDELEY ANDOVER C MK.1

RAF Abingdon, and then with
the reformed 46 Squadron in
September. The second unit to
form was 52 Squadron at RAF
Seletar, Singapore in December
1966 and the third, in August
1967, was 84 Squadron at RAF
Khormaksar, Aden, which soon
moved to RAF Sharjah.
In early 1969, 52 Squadron moved
to RAF Changi, but with the UK’s
shrinking defence commitments
and withdrawal from the Far East,
the squadron was disbanded at the
end of the year. Similarly, in the
Middle East, 84 Squadron moved to
RAF Muharraq in December 1970
but was disbanded within a year.
The home commitment was set to
continue, and 46 Squadron joined
the training unit, 242 OCU, at RAF
Thorney Island in September 1970.
Further defence cuts in the mid-
1970s resulted in the disbanding of
46 Squadron in August 1975 and

the end of the Andover’s RAF role as

a transport.

In November 1976, 115 Squadron

at RAF Brize Norton converted

to the Andover. These were

specialised versions for calibration

duties designated E.3 and E.3A.

The squadron operated seven such

airframes together with C.1s for

crew training. The unit moved

to RAF Benson in 1983 and was

disbanded in October 1993.

The RAF also purchased six

examples of the HS 748 Series 2,

designated as Andover CC.2, for VIP

duties, which were delivered in 1964-

65. Two of these initially entered
    service with The Queen’s Flight,
    while the others served with various
    communication units at home and
    abroad and, subsequently, with 32
    and 60 Squadrons. In later years,
    these were augmented by Andover
    C.1s as they became available.
    The Andover continued its
    service well into the new century
    with a presence at RAF Boscombe
    Down, where the remaining
    examples served with the Empire

Test Pilots’ School, the Heavy

Aircraft Test Squadron and as the

UK’s designated aircraft under the

Open Skies Treaty. For this purpose,

two aircraft were converted to

undertake photo-reconnaissance and

designated as Andover C.1(PR). The

last operational flight of an Andover

was by the ETPS’s C.1 XS606, on

August 31, 2012.

“The RAF also purchased six

examples of the HS 748 Series 2, designated as Andover CC.2, for

VIP duties, which were delivered in 1964-65.”

Left

Displayed at the RAF

Museum Cosford,

XS639 was built in

1967 as an Andover

C.1 but in 1976 it

was converted to

E.3 standard for 115

Squadron. On July

13, 1994 it was fl own

from RAF Northolt

to RAF Cosford for

preservation by

the museum. STEVE

BRIDGEWATER

Below left

The RAF purchased

six examples of the

HS 748 Series 2,

designated Andover

CC.2, for VIP duties.

Two of these initially

entered service with

The Queen’s Flight,

including XS790.