6:51 "The Anson has so much glass" This is exactly what makes the whole magic of this subject, and why I fell in love with it. It is very much like a flying city bus. I always thought it was idiotic mostly Japanese companies made buses (Fujimi in particular)... The Anson goes even further, having two large rectangular sunroof type windows on top. After 40 years largely filled with single engine prop types, 1/48 scale is finally opening up to the potential of multi engines. This is stepping closer into the overlooked world of prop passenger liners, for which 1/48 is the smallest scale where passenger windows actually work as intended. Compared to this, the Lancaster seems dreary with its black surfaces and tiny windows.
I haven't built Airfix since the early 1970s when I made most of the catalogue, suspended by cotton from the bedroom ceiling. Building plastic models progressed to the real thing with a 21 year career on Strikemaster, Jaguar, Tornado and Hawk. The next phase was another 21 years as the global lead in training defence practitioners in the management of large complex defence programmes. The Anson is special for me. Dad, who went on to pilot a Lancaster with Pathfinders flew learned multi engine flying at Weyburn, Saskatchewan at 41SFTS on the BCATP programme. His was bright yellow. I'm now into fljght sim and have begun modelling all dad's airfields on XPlane.
What an amazing story, huge respect for both you and your father for your service to our country. The Anson will be familiar to so very many people with connections to the war years, she'll look grand in all-over training yellow!
There are going to be issues with every kit - Tamiya are not fireproof on that one! But I think it's one of the best engineered and designed kits I've seen from Airfix (so far, let's see how the wings go....), and up to now it has been a joy to build.
as you seem to paint the larger surfaces with an airbrush I can't help thinking it would be easier to assemble in sub sections and paint i.e the early cockpit assembly with many parts in cockpit green I assemble these cabin structure parts then paint the main colour all on one go avoiding finger and glue marks etc , just a thought
Good idea - although for this there are so many little bits and pieces than need painting I'm not sure I'd have got them all! But a sensible idea nonetheless! I'll try it on a future build...
29:57 Gary, if you want to drill a hole that is bang on, drill the hole with a smaller drill bit than final diameter, that will give you a guide for the bigger bits. Just a little tip from a bloke working in a machine shop.
Been looking forward to this since you opened the box! Fairly new to your channel still, but loved everything I’ve watched so far! Thanks for making them 😃
That looks like a great kit. Fantastic interior detail and you've done a great job of bringing it out. Looking forward to seeing the final paint scheme!
Great looking build, Gary! Good to know about the instrument decals. I've got this on my wish list and so I'll be adding the PE instrument set as well.
Wow! Airfix have done an absolutely incredible job there with the design and engineering! Good looking build too! I like what I'm seeing, and yes, a bit of a scuffed, muddy floor will give some interest, and look good to what can be seen inside! 👍
Not even watched it all yet, but thumbs up, as I know it will be... saves me forgetting later :) The internal weathering looks great as always. May I suggest an alternate method (may or may not work)? Undercoat the floor in silver/aluminium and then top coat in the usual interior colour, then use a sanding stick to gently rub off the top layer of paint to show the metal undercoat. Might work for outer weathering too. Just a thought :) The level of detail you add Gary is as always superb.. I remember the map on the desert Katy you did.. very impressive!
Great build so far Gary! Been looking forward to this since it was announced. Hope to build mine as one flown by my uncle in Saskatoon, Canada during his training.
@@garys_stuff he took quite a few photos during his time there which helps a lot, just need to make out the serial numbers which are a bit fuzzy (wartime censoring?)
Really interesting build - thank you. Love the extra details and has given me ideas for future builds of mine. With the uncertainties around the economy at the moment I have tended to be careful as to what kits to buy. Saw this one as a 'would be nice' but now think it has been promoted to a get one. Airfix really do seem to be getting good at aircraft kits and this really does look good for the 1/24 Spitfire.
Cheers Glen. I really think this is one of those kits we put to the top of the acquisition board! The interior detail is lovely and seems very complete - I love the anglepoise lamp - but the instrument and radio decals are a bit disappointing. Maybe they can be cut up before putting them on. As for the Spitfire, the designer (Chris) was behind the 1/24 Hellcat as well. The detail touches in the Spitfire are very good - things like the cooling pipes for the Brownings in the wings - my only reservation at the moment is that the built example I saw had moulded straps which in polystyrene are too thick IMHO. But otherwise a good looking bit of plastic! They will have finished examples at telford, i'm sure, so if you don't go yourself you can look out for my video about it!!!
Wow! That is really looking good. Well done Gary and well done Airfix. One thing that’s bothering me is seatbelts. There doesn’t seem to be anything from the aftermarket available yet and I can’t find any clear photos of the Anson’s interior to see what they were like. Does anybody know if they were fitted?
No idea, to be fair. There is a kind of hint of a lap strap on the pilot's seat - look like a bucke with a little bit of strap right on the upper edge on each side, but nothing else. I can't believe that none of the seats had any restraints for the occasional "whoops, sorry about that you fellows" from the driver.
Interior looks wonderful. Not sure what the weathering powders cost, but you can also buy a box of colored pastel sticks that, when rubbed on sandpaper, will make beautiful powders. Aircraft that came out of the 1930’s are probably my favorites. Enjoying this.
Greetings Gary, the Anson is looking great, I may have to get one in the future, looking forward to the next episode, best regards to you and your family from a Kiwi living in Australia.
Hi Garry , Just received this model and it came with instructions so why do we need videos like this ? . well to be honest I dont think I would ever get this finished if it wasnt for your videos of the build. I certainly appreciate the time and effort you must put into the videos to help people like me to build a fine model as this . I love the pilots note book , its those little thoughts to detail that make a model into a super model .Well done and thank you ... Bill .
Wow! Extremely intricate, and it all eventually snals together. Nicely navigated, Gary! Love those solid spars. You've gone back to Humbrol interior green? Great cabin weathering -- there's a large greenhouse coming. Bravo, Airfix! I hope you sell a bunch -- the Commonwealth Air Trainjng Plan flew these all over the place and thr pilots loved them.
From what I hear the pre-order for the Anson was one of their biggest ever. I've gone back to Humbrol interior green because I've finally got an airbrush thinner that works with it (the one sold by Spruebox). Could never get it to work with other ones.
Nice work Gary, I'm waiting for the Mask set and PE- the 3d printed ones have issues. Thoughtful instructions (written by a modeller) Tamiya seem mundane next to Airfix ;)
Thanks man. I think Eduard Brassin has a Loök instrument panel on the way, not sure about the radio panel. The instructions are done by a very good graphic designer who works to a brief from the design team who supply him with photos from test builds. Quite an intricate business - might do a video on it one day!
Hi Gary, Working on this myself. The fit is amazing. I was really worried about the fit of the glazing but it is fantastic. So far I have used a bit of filler on the engine cowls and a touch on the bottom of the fuselage. I'm a bit puzzled however regarding the painting of scheme A. How far does the camo work go down round the cowls? The 3 view seems to contradict themselves between the side and underside views. The Annie holds a special place in my heart as my late father flew them in South Africa during WW2 and also taught navigation. I still have his log books and he actually flew the Airspeed Oxford more but he always mentioned the Anson more. I didn't really weather the inside of mine bar a pin wash. I rather wish I had got some belts for the seats though but in my haste I couldn't wait to get them. Masking the glazing took most of a day to do the windscreen and side windows. I have also done the nose and top glazing but sstill have thee turret to do. Oh Joy! I put both control columns in as his logs always list a second pilot so assume the the ones he flew were dual controls. Dare I say best Airfix kit ever (so far). Keep up the great work. Best wishes, Mark PS.Wonder if that handle behind the seat was the undercarriage retraction lever as it was originally hand pumped to operate.
The scheme three-views are pretty poor on this kit - I'm finding the same with the Aussie scheme and have resorted to looking online for references. That's probably the best way with scheme A. There is a page at the RAF Museum site about it: www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/avro-ansons-vs-messerschmitt-109s-dunkirk-1940/ This has some photos and the top most one seems to be the most contemporary. It also says that the Duxford aircraft is painted as N9732: www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/70000075 But that's got the smooth cowling. From what I can see and for what it's worth, I'd have the bottom two blisters in silver and the rest in camouflage. I've masked everything except the turret - I'm doing that by brush! Good luck with the build!
Coming together nicely, Mr Evans! Liking the light wear and tear to the floor and spars. Makes the model “yours”. Any chance you could add an airbrushing ‘masterclass’ to the list of future videos…? (Which I imagine grows of its own accord every day!) Not just about how to use one, but good maintenance, etc. Just a thought, anyway! Looking forward to the rest of the build and seeing you work your magic! Best wishes from Wirral.
Thanks Darren! Yes, I'll look into a few more technique style videos - again aimed at the everyday modeller like me and not the amazing work you can certainly find elsewhere on YT!!!
The KitsWorld 3D panel set is already available, but there are no masking sets for this kit yet (only for the earlier Classic Airframe/Special Hobby kits). Not sure how much difference there is!
It's a technique where you have a small amount of almost dry white paint on your brush and just kind of glide it across a textured surface. The white gets picked up at the edges and it gives the impression of lots of detail. But you use a tiny amount of white and it has to be very nearly dry. Practice by trying to dry brush on the part numbers on the sprues!
There are stories of watching Wildcat/Martlet pilots take off, trying to gain altitude whilst cranking away esising the manual gear. They looked like demented bees bobbing up then down 10 or 15 feet as they fought through the cycle.
@@randytaylor1258 a sadly late friend of mine, Peter Locke who flew 882 Squadron Wildcats from HMS Searcher told me he had to crank the handle 16 and 1/2 times to raise the u/c. No wonder they did a bit of bobbing up and down after take-off!
@@garys_stuff My dad was an observer with 280 Squadron RAF and flew Air/Sea Rescue missions in Ansons over the North Sea. He said after a few months of cranking his landing gear up and down, his pilot had a left hook like Joe Louis. btw, the navigator sat on a 40 gallon fuel tank, which is why the navigator's chair has an odd shape. While on Air/Sea rescue searches, the navigator, my dad, would move from his regular position and sit in the folding jumpseat beside the pilot. The pilot would scan the sea directly ahead, the navigator would look right, the wireless operator would look left, and the air gunner in the turret would look in every direction. His Anson carried two inflatable dinghies, one in each of the two bomb compartments near the wing roots, but the dinghies were so large, they couldn't get the doors closed all the way, so they had to fly on patrols with the doors partly open.
No one has released a build video on this plane yet… thank you so much!!
My pleasure Joey!
Yh I love how you always do the latest releases I hope you do the 1/24 spit when it comes out but the Anson’s looking great
6:51 "The Anson has so much glass" This is exactly what makes the whole magic of this subject, and why I fell in love with it. It is very much like a flying city bus. I always thought it was idiotic mostly Japanese companies made buses (Fujimi in particular)... The Anson goes even further, having two large rectangular sunroof type windows on top. After 40 years largely filled with single engine prop types, 1/48 scale is finally opening up to the potential of multi engines. This is stepping closer into the overlooked world of prop passenger liners, for which 1/48 is the smallest scale where passenger windows actually work as intended. Compared to this, the Lancaster seems dreary with its black surfaces and tiny windows.
I haven't built Airfix since the early 1970s when I made most of the catalogue, suspended by cotton from the bedroom ceiling.
Building plastic models progressed to the real thing with a 21 year career on Strikemaster, Jaguar, Tornado and Hawk. The next phase was another 21 years as the global lead in training defence practitioners in the management of large complex defence programmes.
The Anson is special for me. Dad, who went on to pilot a Lancaster with Pathfinders flew learned multi engine flying at Weyburn, Saskatchewan at 41SFTS on the BCATP programme. His was bright yellow.
I'm now into fljght sim and have begun modelling all dad's airfields on XPlane.
What an amazing story, huge respect for both you and your father for your service to our country. The Anson will be familiar to so very many people with connections to the war years, she'll look grand in all-over training yellow!
A very nice build and video, shame about cockpit decals, after market, the manual a lovely touch, thank you Gary.
My pleasure Jim!
You floor chipping looked so easy and realistic, it would be great to know the specifics of your brush and paint...
Well you did say it won't be long Gary, and you certainly don't disappoint my friend.
I endeavour to provide satisfaction...!!
@@garys_stuff and you always do Gary, thank you.
Gosh, what a wonderful kit. The Tamiya fans will find issues, no doubt, lol.
Agreed, Gary, your detailing of the pilots notes is a wonderful touch.
There are going to be issues with every kit - Tamiya are not fireproof on that one! But I think it's one of the best engineered and designed kits I've seen from Airfix (so far, let's see how the wings go....), and up to now it has been a joy to build.
as you seem to paint the larger surfaces with an airbrush I can't help thinking it would be easier to assemble in sub sections and paint i.e the early cockpit assembly with many parts in cockpit green I assemble these cabin structure parts then paint the main colour all on one go avoiding finger and glue marks etc , just a thought
Good idea - although for this there are so many little bits and pieces than need painting I'm not sure I'd have got them all! But a sensible idea nonetheless! I'll try it on a future build...
Nice decal-flip at 7:18
Thank you!
29:57 Gary, if you want to drill a hole that is bang on, drill the hole with a smaller drill bit than final diameter, that will give you a guide for the bigger bits.
Just a little tip from a bloke working in a machine shop.
Thanks man! Good tip.
Great start to a well engineered kit Gary. Onwards n upwards mate
Cheers JB - in latin isn't that something like "per ardua ad astra"? Heard that somewhere before...
Looking good there Gary. I'll probably do mine (When I get it) as one of the 23 Mk 1s supplied to the RNZAF after 1940...
Cheers Brett, I know Xtradecal have a Kiwi Anson in one of their sets...
Another excellent video Gary.
I have got this kit and your videos are going to be my reference,thank you.
Thanks Phil, hope I don't lead you astray!!!
Been looking forward to this since you opened the box!
Fairly new to your channel still, but loved everything I’ve watched so far! Thanks for making them 😃
My pleasure Callum, hope you enjoy more!
I belive the floor of the early anson had a wood floor that was covered with an anti skid coating of sand mixed with paint and coated on.
Thanks for that - but I'm not going to start adding wood chipping to the floor now. My mistake, so a good shout for future models!
I am so glad I came across your channel. Your comments and advice are very helpful thank you.
I'm glad you liked it Blaine!
Looking great!
Thanks Kevin!
Thanks for the decal guidance.
My pleasure.
I am a Tamiya fan and I am staggered by the engineering on this... This is brilliant...
It is really good Bruce, feel like Airfix are turning a corner these days...
Looking good so far, loving all the interior details, keep up the great work Gary.
Thanks Chris!
Looks so enjoyable and stimulating to build. That book is awsome😁
Thanks man!
That looks like a great kit. Fantastic interior detail and you've done a great job of bringing it out. Looking forward to seeing the final paint scheme!
Thanks man! Me too, if I'm honest...!
Excellent work. Very helpful video. Can’t wait to start mine!.
My pleasure - I'm sure you'll enjoy this kit!
Outstanding! Love the Pilots Notes
Thanks Anthony!
Thanks
No, thank you!
@Dave Pasopton here is a link to my supporters' video th-cam.com/video/xZgiaOm08Cc/w-d-xo.html
It looks beautiful Gary. Great kit, but also great filming and Commentary.
Cheers Julian!
On my wish list looks like a great build
Thanks Danny!
gary, a very nice presentation and explanation of the painting and assembly process. Thank for sharing
You are very welcome Ralph!
Wow genius touch with the pilots notes gary 👍
Thanks Duncan! Sometimes just the smallest things matter when you're doing a build.
Great looking build, Gary! Good to know about the instrument decals. I've got this on my wish list and so I'll be adding the PE instrument set as well.
Cheers Ken, you'll love it.
Great Video son 👍
I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the build.
I'm halfway through the old 1/72 Airfix Anson.
Cheers Joe - how's the 1/72 going?
@@garys_stuff now then son it's going good thanks. I've just resprayed the interior.
Great video gary cant wait for the second part take care ❤
Cheers Harry!
Great job Gary 👏 and getting close to 7,000 subscribers!
Thanks 👍
Wow! Airfix have done an absolutely incredible job there with the design and engineering!
Good looking build too! I like what I'm seeing, and yes, a bit of a scuffed, muddy floor will give some interest, and look good to what can be seen inside! 👍
They have done a cracking job. A delight to make so far!
Not even watched it all yet, but thumbs up, as I know it will be... saves me forgetting later :)
The internal weathering looks great as always. May I suggest an alternate method (may or may not work)? Undercoat the floor in silver/aluminium and then top coat in the usual interior colour, then use a sanding stick to gently rub off the top layer of paint to show the metal undercoat. Might work for outer weathering too. Just a thought :)
The level of detail you add Gary is as always superb.. I remember the map on the desert Katy you did.. very impressive!
It's a good plan and work well for things like propellers too.
Great build so far Gary! Been looking forward to this since it was announced. Hope to build mine as one flown by my uncle in Saskatoon, Canada during his training.
Thanks Randal! Loads of Canadian training markings available so you should find something close to what your Uncle flew.
@@garys_stuff he took quite a few photos during his time there which helps a lot, just need to make out the serial numbers which are a bit fuzzy (wartime censoring?)
Really interesting build - thank you. Love the extra details and has given me ideas for future builds of mine. With the uncertainties around the economy at the moment I have tended to be careful as to what kits to buy. Saw this one as a 'would be nice' but now think it has been promoted to a get one. Airfix really do seem to be getting good at aircraft kits and this really does look good for the 1/24 Spitfire.
Cheers Glen. I really think this is one of those kits we put to the top of the acquisition board! The interior detail is lovely and seems very complete - I love the anglepoise lamp - but the instrument and radio decals are a bit disappointing. Maybe they can be cut up before putting them on. As for the Spitfire, the designer (Chris) was behind the 1/24 Hellcat as well. The detail touches in the Spitfire are very good - things like the cooling pipes for the Brownings in the wings - my only reservation at the moment is that the built example I saw had moulded straps which in polystyrene are too thick IMHO. But otherwise a good looking bit of plastic! They will have finished examples at telford, i'm sure, so if you don't go yourself you can look out for my video about it!!!
I enjoyed the video Gary again nicely presented . Regards Gav.
Cheers Gav!
Wow! That is really looking good. Well done Gary and well done Airfix. One thing that’s bothering me is seatbelts. There doesn’t seem to be anything from the aftermarket available yet and I can’t find any clear photos of the Anson’s interior to see what they were like. Does anybody know if they were fitted?
No idea, to be fair. There is a kind of hint of a lap strap on the pilot's seat - look like a bucke with a little bit of strap right on the upper edge on each side, but nothing else. I can't believe that none of the seats had any restraints for the occasional "whoops, sorry about that you fellows" from the driver.
Interior looks wonderful. Not sure what the weathering powders cost, but you can also buy a box of colored pastel sticks that, when rubbed on sandpaper, will make beautiful powders. Aircraft that came out of the 1930’s are probably my favorites. Enjoying this.
To be fair these powders cost me nothing because I was given them! But good tip about the pastels.
15:45 it is not so hard to do you need a good decal solution like mr. mark setter +softner and meybe cut the decal smaler or in half. :) Greets
Normally I’d agree but the relief on these parts means you’d be better off cutting the decals into tiny pieces. Or using after market parts.
Greetings Gary, the Anson is looking great, I may have to get one in the future, looking forward to the next episode, best regards to you and your family from a Kiwi living in Australia.
I think you need one of these in your life Les!
Inspired bit of work on the pilots notes
Thank you!
Hi Garry , Just received this model and it came with instructions so why do we need videos like this ? . well to be honest I dont think I would ever get this finished if it wasnt for your videos of the build. I certainly appreciate the time and effort you must put into the videos to help people like me to build a fine model as this . I love the pilots note book , its those little thoughts to detail that make a model into a super model .Well done and thank you ... Bill .
My pleasure Bill!
Wow! Extremely intricate, and it all eventually snals together. Nicely navigated, Gary! Love those solid spars.
You've gone back to Humbrol interior green? Great cabin weathering -- there's a large greenhouse coming.
Bravo, Airfix! I hope you sell a bunch -- the Commonwealth Air Trainjng Plan flew these all over the place and thr pilots loved them.
From what I hear the pre-order for the Anson was one of their biggest ever. I've gone back to Humbrol interior green because I've finally got an airbrush thinner that works with it (the one sold by Spruebox). Could never get it to work with other ones.
Nice work Gary, I'm waiting for the Mask set and PE- the 3d printed ones have issues. Thoughtful instructions (written by a modeller) Tamiya seem mundane next to Airfix ;)
Thanks man. I think Eduard Brassin has a Loök instrument panel on the way, not sure about the radio panel. The instructions are done by a very good graphic designer who works to a brief from the design team who supply him with photos from test builds. Quite an intricate business - might do a video on it one day!
Hi Gary, Working on this myself. The fit is amazing. I was really worried about the fit of the glazing but it is fantastic. So far I have used a bit of filler on the engine cowls and a touch on the bottom of the fuselage.
I'm a bit puzzled however regarding the painting of scheme A. How far does the camo work go down round the cowls? The 3 view seems to contradict themselves between the side and underside views.
The Annie holds a special place in my heart as my late father flew them in South Africa during WW2 and also taught navigation. I still have his log books and he actually flew the Airspeed Oxford more but he always mentioned the Anson more.
I didn't really weather the inside of mine bar a pin wash. I rather wish I had got some belts for the seats though but in my haste I couldn't wait to get them.
Masking the glazing took most of a day to do the windscreen and side windows. I have also done the nose and top glazing but sstill have thee turret to do. Oh Joy!
I put both control columns in as his logs always list a second pilot so assume the the ones he flew were dual controls.
Dare I say best Airfix kit ever (so far).
Keep up the great work.
Best wishes, Mark
PS.Wonder if that handle behind the seat was the undercarriage retraction lever as it was originally hand pumped to operate.
The scheme three-views are pretty poor on this kit - I'm finding the same with the Aussie scheme and have resorted to looking online for references. That's probably the best way with scheme A. There is a page at the RAF Museum site about it:
www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/avro-ansons-vs-messerschmitt-109s-dunkirk-1940/
This has some photos and the top most one seems to be the most contemporary. It also says that the Duxford aircraft is painted as N9732:
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/70000075
But that's got the smooth cowling. From what I can see and for what it's worth, I'd have the bottom two blisters in silver and the rest in camouflage.
I've masked everything except the turret - I'm doing that by brush!
Good luck with the build!
@@garys_stuff Thanks for the info
Coming together nicely, Mr Evans!
Liking the light wear and tear to the floor and spars. Makes the model “yours”.
Any chance you could add an airbrushing ‘masterclass’ to the list of future videos…? (Which I imagine grows of its own accord every day!)
Not just about how to use one, but good maintenance, etc. Just a thought, anyway!
Looking forward to the rest of the build and seeing you work your magic!
Best wishes from Wirral.
Thanks Darren! Yes, I'll look into a few more technique style videos - again aimed at the everyday modeller like me and not the amazing work you can certainly find elsewhere on YT!!!
think I will delay my build until the aftermarket boys bring out an instrument panel etc
The KitsWorld 3D panel set is already available, but there are no masking sets for this kit yet (only for the earlier Classic Airframe/Special Hobby kits). Not sure how much difference there is!
@@garys_stuff great thanks just ordered the panel
Really nice thank you. When you say you dry brushed on some white, what do you mean exactly? tia.
It's a technique where you have a small amount of almost dry white paint on your brush and just kind of glide it across a textured surface. The white gets picked up at the edges and it gives the impression of lots of detail. But you use a tiny amount of white and it has to be very nearly dry. Practice by trying to dry brush on the part numbers on the sprues!
Fantastic video but a slightly over complicated kit for my chubby fingers and shaking demeanor... looking forward to your next video ... thank you
I know the problem with the fingers....!
I will guess and say hand crank for the UC ?
Possibly so - I know it needed 144 turns to raise, just seems to be in an odd place...
There are stories of watching Wildcat/Martlet pilots take off, trying to gain altitude whilst cranking away esising the manual gear. They looked like demented bees bobbing up then down 10 or 15 feet as they fought through the cycle.
@@randytaylor1258 a sadly late friend of mine, Peter Locke who flew 882 Squadron Wildcats from HMS Searcher told me he had to crank the handle 16 and 1/2 times to raise the u/c. No wonder they did a bit of bobbing up and down after take-off!
@@garys_stuff My dad was an observer with 280 Squadron RAF and flew Air/Sea Rescue missions in Ansons over the North Sea. He said after a few months of cranking his landing gear up and down, his pilot had a left hook like Joe Louis.
btw, the navigator sat on a 40 gallon fuel tank, which is why the navigator's chair has an odd shape.
While on Air/Sea rescue searches, the navigator, my dad, would move from his regular position and sit in the folding jumpseat beside the pilot. The pilot would scan the sea directly ahead, the navigator would look right, the wireless operator would look left, and the air gunner in the turret would look in every direction. His Anson carried two inflatable dinghies, one in each of the two bomb compartments near the wing roots, but the dinghies were so large, they couldn't get the doors closed all the way, so they had to fly on patrols with the doors partly open.