Avro York
The Avro York was a British four-engined transport aircraft built by Avro during the Second World War from the Lancaster bomber, whose wings, tail, undercarriage and Merlin engines it kept behind a new square-section fuselage of double the capacity. First flown in July 1942, it served RAF Transport Command, which took 208 Yorks, and civil operators led by BOAC and British South American Airways, which took 45 civil York Is; RAF Yorks flew over 58,000 sorties in the Berlin Airlift of 1948–49. The last examples were retired in 1964, and two complete Yorks are displayed in British museums.
Why It Mattered
For RAF Transport Command, the York was its first British-built type flown on a large scale. Built around the Lancaster's wings, tail, undercarriage and engines, it gave Britain a large four-engined transport whose fuselage had twice the bomber's internal space. Its heaviest work came after the war: during the Berlin Airlift of 1948–49, RAF Yorks flew over 58,000 sorties carrying vital supplies into the blockaded city. The type also carried heads of state and government, and the third prototype, LV633, was luxuriously fitted out as Winston Churchill's personal transport. In civilian service, BOAC and British South American Airways were the type's largest users.
Design Notes
Roy Chadwick, Avro's chief designer, designated the transport Type 685, pairing the Lancaster's wings, tail assembly, undercarriage and Rolls-Royce Merlin engines with a new fuselage. The new fuselage was square in section and provided double the internal capacity of the Lancaster. The prototype first flew with the Lancaster's twin fins and rudders, but the greater fuselage side area forward of the wing made a third, central fin necessary; it was fitted as standard on production aircraft. The first prototype was later rebuilt to C.II standard with Bristol Hercules radial engines in place of the Merlins, but the Merlin was standardised on and it remained the sole Hercules-powered York.
Operational History
The prototype, LV626, conducted its maiden flight from Ringway Airport, Manchester, on 5 July 1942. Production built up slowly, because Avro had to keep priority on the Lancaster: by the close of 1943, output stood at just seven aircraft — the four prototypes plus three off the production line. The RAF took 208 Yorks; in 1945 No. 511 Squadron became the first squadron fully equipped with the type, and in time the type equipped ten Transport Command squadrons, some of them only in part. BOAC received its first York in April 1944 and opened a UK–Morocco–Cairo route the same month; after the war, BOAC Yorks took over the Cairo to Durban service previously flown by Short flying boats, while British South American Airways operated the type on routes to the Caribbean and South America. During the Berlin Airlift, Yorks from seven RAF squadrons flew over 58,000 sorties between 1948 and 1949; in total the York fleet carried in excess of 230,000 tons, 43 per cent of the British contribution. After the airlift, the RAF retired much of its York fleet, and around 40 of the aircraft were sold on to civilian operators. BOAC kept its Yorks on freight schedules until November 1957, and the last Yorks in service, flown by Skyways and Dan Air, were retired in 1964.
Afterlife
No York flies today, and only two complete examples of the type survive, both on display in the United Kingdom. One, TS798, was completed in October 1945 and passed quickly to BOAC; Skyways later acquired it and operated it until 1964, and it is now displayed by the Royal Air Force Museum at Cosford, in Hangar Four, painted to represent another York, MW100. The other survivor, G-ANTK, served the RAF as MW232 and joined the fleet of aircraft engaged in the Berlin Airlift; from July 1954 it flew freight for Dan Air as G-ANTK until its retirement in May 1964, and it is displayed at the Imperial War Museum Duxford. Both survivors were allocated to the RAF at first, but each spent most of its flying career with civil operators.