Known For Its Kneeling Landing Gear: What Was The Hawker Siddeley Andover?

Summary The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 was created to replace the Douglas DC-3. The RAF modified the 748 design to accommodate a kneeling undercarriage. RAF placed an order for 31 Andover C.

1 planes from Avro in 1963. The Hawker Siddeley Andover is a twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and produced by Hawker Siddeley for military transport. The purpose-driven aircraft was designed for the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom.

Derived and developed from the Avro-designed HS 748, a 40- to 48-seat passenger airliner, the Hawker Siddeley HS 780 Andover was built for the British Royal Air Force. Taking its name from the Avro Andover, a transport and medical evacuation biplane that the RAF flew between wars, the HS 780 had a unique hydraulic kneeling landing gear that simplified loading and unloading. The aircraft performed its first flight in December 1963 and entered military service with the RAF in July 1965.

Only 37 aircraft were built, most used by the RAF and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. In the early 1960s, the Royal Air Force (RAF) asked the government to provide a medium tactical freighter. During the 1950s, aircraft manufacturers began to prioritize the production of civilian aircraft over military planes.

By the late 1950s, Vickers had secured a large end of the short-haul market with its four turboprop engined Vickers Viscount. Because of this, Manchester planemaker Avro decided to build a smaller regional airliner powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Dart turbopr.