Mach-2 Aircraft 1/72 Avro 685 York British Transport Aircraft Berlin Airlift Kit

The Avro York was a British transport aircraft that was derived from the WWII Lancaster heavy bomber, and used in both military and airliner roles between 1943 and 1964.

The Avro York was, like its Lancaster and Lincoln stablemates, a very versatile aircraft. One of the prototype Yorks, LV633, Ascalon, was custom-built as the personal transport and flying conference room for Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Ascalon was to be fitted with a special pressurized “egg” so that VIP passengers could be carried without their having to use an oxygen mask. Made of aluminum alloy it had eight perspex windows to reduce claustrophobia. It also had a telephone, instrument panel, drinking facilities and an ashtray with room for cigars, thermos flask, newspapers and books. Testing at RAE Farnborough found the “egg” to work satisfactorily. However, Avro said it was too busy with the new Lancaster IV (Avro Lincoln) work so it was never actually installed in Ascalon. It was considered for installation in the successor aircraft, a Douglas C-54B but the contractor Armstrong Whitworth decided it was impractical and the project was shelved. The whereabouts of “Churchill's Egg” is currently unknown.

MW104, Endeavour, flew to Australia in 1945 to become the personal aircraft of HRH The Duke of Gloucester, Australia's then Governor-General. It was operated by the Governor-General's Flight from 1945 to 1947, and it was the Royal Australian Air Force's only York. Another York (MW102) was fitted out as a “flying office” for the use of Viceroy of India and C-in-C South East Asia Command, Lord Mountbatten. During its first major overhaul by Avro at Manchester (Ringway) in 1945, the aircraft was re-painted a light duck egg green, a shade intended to cool down the airplane, instead of its former normal camouflage color scheme. South African leader Jan Smuts also used a York as personal transport. Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory was killed November 14, 1944 while flying to his new posting in Ceylon to take command of Allied air operations in the Pacific, when York (MW126) struck a ridge in the French Alps in a blizzard, 30 mi (48 km) S of Grenoble, France. His wife Dora and eight aircrew also died. The wreckage was found by a villager in June 1945.

• Role: Transport
• Manufacturer: Avro
• Designed by: Roy Chadwick
• First flight: 5 July 1942
• Introduced: 1944
• Retired: 1964
• Status: Two examples on display
• Primary users: Royal Air Force BOAC; British South American Airways; Skyways Ltd.
• Produced: 1943-1946
• Number built: 259 (including prototypes)
• Developed from: Avro Lancaster