Design and Development
Development began in 1941 of the Type 685 which paired the wings, tail and undercarriage of the Lancaster bomber with a new square section fuselage of much greater capacity. Production was undertaken by Avro with the hopes of sales to the Royal Air Force and in the postwar civil airliner market.
To meet Operational Requirement OR.113 for a transport aircraft Specification C.1/42 was issued to Avro in 1942 and three further prototypes were ordered in different configurations.
The prototype, LV626, was assembled by Avro's experimental flight department at Manchester's Ringway Airport and first flew there on 5 July 1942. It had initially been fitted with the twin fins and rudders of the Lancaster but the increased fuselage side area forward of the wing compared to the Lancaster necessitated fitting a third central fin to retain adequate control and directional stability. Initial assembly and testing of production Yorks mainly for the RAF, was at Ringway, later Yeadon (Leeds) and Woodford (Cheshire).
One pattern aircraft was built at Victory Aircraft in Canada but no further orders were received. Victory tooled up for 30 aircraft and built parts for five with one ultimately being completed about the time the war came to an end.
Read more about this topic: Avro York
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