'Last of the lot': Unique World War II bomber goes on sale in Blenheim

Sunday, 5 February 2023

Local aviation buff Bill Reid is selling his 1930s World War II Avro Anson MK.1 bomber, thought to be the only one left capable of flying in the world.

Eighty-odd years on from playing a vital role in keeping the Australian coast free from enemy submarines, an extremely rare World War II coastal-reconnaissance bomber has attracted worldwide attention, after being put on the market for almost $3 million.

Based at the Omaka Aerodrome in Blenheim, the 1935 Avro Anson Mk1 MH-120 is so rare in fact, it is the sole surviving bomber of its type in the world still capable of flying.

During World War II, the Anson Mk1 played a crucial role in protecting the coastlines of Commonwealth countries, and was heavily used by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during the 1939-1945 conflict.

After the war, many Ansons were recommissioned as cargo or passenger planes, before the Civil Aviation Authority grounded the majority of the planes with wooden wings in 1962 because of glue failures and health and safety issues.

**READ MORE:

The 1935 Avro Anson Mk1 MH-120 RAF Bomber has been put up for sale for US$1.9 million (NZ$2.9 million).

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Local aviation buff Bill Reid is selling his 1930s World War II Avro Anson MK.1 coastal-reconnaissance bomber – the only one left capable flying in the world.

Fortunately, this particular plane had been fitted with metal wings and tail from the RAAF, so was able to continue flying.

After years spent transporting crayfish around Australia, and starring in the film Half the World Away, the Anson was retired to an aviation museum in Victoria, before it came to the attention of Blenheim’s Classic Aircraft Sales Ltd owner Graham Orphan, to whom the plane had held a special, lifelong significance.

Reid and Graham Orphan of Classic Aircraft Sales, who has had a life-long love affair with the aircraft.

”It’s a very impressive aeroplane, I’ve actually known it all my life,” Orphan said. “I grew up originally in Adelaide, and it turned up at our local airfield when I was probably eight years old.

“So I followed the Anson throughout my life as it did various things, until it became idle, and the owner contacted me and said would you mind selling it through our classic aircraft sales company, and we ended up selling it to Bill Reid here in New Zealand.”

In 2002, Nelson aviation fanatic and former helicopter charter business owner Reid flew to Australia with several friends to dismantle the three tonne plane and transport it back across the Tasman in six shipping containers.

Reid then spent the next “10 years or so” painstakingly refurbishing the plane at his Wakefield property near Nelson and reconfiguring it back to its wartime glory, before taking to the air again and thrilling crowds at air shows across New Zealand for the next decade.

Orphan said the work Reid and his team, including his late wife Robyn, had done over the years was awe-inspiring.

Reid said he made “six or seven worldwide tours” to find all the original parts when he was restoring the aircraft.

“Bill was the one who was going to revert it to its World War II configuration, get it active again and make it fly, and it made its first flight in 2012, so it’s been a fantastic journey to follow,” he said.

Now, after two-decades of ownership, Reid said he’d decided it was time “do other things” and sell the plane in order to fund his next project.

The Yealands Classic Fighters Omaka Airshow. (First published in April, 2017)

“Well, I’m getting on now, and I’d still like to do one more project while I still can, and if I do pop my clogs, I don’t want my children to have to deal with the sale. I just think it’s time to give somebody else a go.

“I don’t know what my next project it is yet, but it’ll more than likely be another plane,” he laughed.

Reid said the Anson had attracted worldwide attention since it was put up for sale on the Classic Wings’ Facebook page, garnering tens of thousands of views and comments about where it should end up.

“There’s been a lot of talk about it going to the UK, with The Imperial War Museum being mentioned, but we’d love to try and keep it here in Marlborough,” he said.

Orphan said despite the role he will play in the plane’s eventual sale, he too would love to find a way to keep the 88-year-old bomber in Blenheim and to continue gracing the skies of Marlborough.

“As you can imagine, with my experience with this aeroplane, we’d really love to find a way to keep it here. It’s a romantic notion, we have to be realistic that in the marketplace there’s only so many people that can afford a World War II bomber - it’s the only Avro Anson Mk1 flying in the world.

“I have to be impartial as an aircraft broker to do the best for the seller, but if there was a way that we could maybe put in a group ownership or something to place the aeroplane into a new home ideally still here in Marlborough would be the best result.

“We’ve had a few people who have kind of shown some interest in a potential group ownership, so that’s a possibility. It’s a goal we’re striving for,” said Orphan.

Anyone interested in forming a consortium or interested in finding out more about group ownership can contact Graham Orphan at graham.cwd@gmail.com.