Editing Avro Anson (section)

==Development==
In 1933, the British [[Air Ministry]] proposed that the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) acquire a relatively cheap landplane for coastal maritime reconnaissance duties; the proposed aircraft would perform as a supplement to the more capable, but expensive, [[flying boat]]s which the RAF had adopted for conducting maritime reconnaissance missions. The Air Ministry looked for designs from British manufacturers. [[Avro]] responded to the request with the ''Avro 652A'', which was a modified version of their earlier [[Avro 652]], a twin-engined, six-seat [[monoplane]] airliner. de Havilland offered a design based on their D.H.89A Dragon Rapide biplane. After evaluating the various submissions received, the Air Ministry decided to order from Avro and [[de Havilland]] respectively, single examples of the Type 652A and the [[de Havilland DH.89]] for evaluation purposes late in 1934; an evaluation and the subsequent selection of a design for production to take place by May 1935.<ref name="AE42 p38-9">Sturtivant ''Air Enthusiast'' Forty-two, pp. 38–39.</ref><ref name="jackav p321-2">Jackson 1990, pp. 321–322.</ref>

On 24 March 1935, the Avro 652A conducted its [[maiden flight]] at [[Woodford Aerodrome]], [[Greater Manchester]]. Between 11 and 17 May 1935, the prototype participated in a formal evaluation against the competing DH.89M by the RAF's Coastal Defence Development Unit at [[HMS Sultan (shore establishment)|RAF Gosport]], [[Hampshire]]. During these trials, the Avro aircraft proved to be superior and was accordingly selected as the winner of the competition on 25 May 1935.<ref name="jackav p322-3">Jackson 1990, pp. 322–323.</ref> In response to its selection, [[List of Air Ministry Specifications#1930–1939|Air Ministry Specification]] G.18/35 was written around the Type 652A; in July 1935, an initial order for 174 aircraft, which had been given the service name "Anson", was received.<ref name="am480 p187">Middleton ''Aeroplane Monthly'' April 1980, p. 187.</ref>

On 31 December 1935, the first production Anson performed its maiden flight; changes from the prototype included an enlarged horizontal [[tailplane]] and reduced [[Elevator (aeronautics)|elevator]] span in order to improve stability. Additionally, while the prototype had not been fitted with [[Flap (aeronautics)|flap]]s, production aircraft could accommodate their installation from the onset to increase the viable glide angle and reduce landing speed.<ref name="flight36 pd"/> On 6 March 1936, deliveries to the RAF commenced.<ref name="am480 p187-8">Middleton ''Aeroplane Monthly'' April 1980, pp. 187–188.</ref> By the end of production in 1952, a total of 11,020 Ansons had been completed, which made it the second most numerous (after approximately 11,500 [[Vickers Wellington]] medium bomber) British multi-engined aircraft of the [[Second World War]].<ref name="Gunston"/>