Miles M.14 Magister, part one, Asian and Oceanian users

 

The Miles M.14 Magister is a two-seat trainer monoplane designed and manufactured by Miles Aircraft. It was used by various Commonwealth users, among them the following ones:

• Australia: At least up to five Magisters are known to have served with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), some of them prior to the war and some of them during the war, with Nos. 451 and 456 Squadrons, used mainly as squadron hacks. 
• British Malaya: The Malayan Volunteer Air Force is known to have employed some 'Maggiebombers' (Magisters fitted with small practice bombs) for training roles. As we couldn't find graphical evidence of this, the drawing below should be considered as speculative.
• New Zealand: The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) employed two Magisters with Nos.1 and 42 Squadrons. After the war many were used by private aero clubs, like the one depicted below.
• Turkey: In 1941 the British government sold an initial batch of 25 Magisters Mk.I, followed by 75 more in 1942. Eventually, 76 in total were delivered in 1941, but six of them were lost en route. A Turkish aircraft manufacturer, Kayseri aircraft Ltd., obtained the rights for manufacturing the type and, therefore, five machines were built between 1941 and 1942. Those rights were transferred to THK (Türk Hava Kurumu - Turkish Aeronautical Association), in Ankara, which manufactured additional 20 machines. 
  Every Turkish Magister served with the Hava Harp Okulu (Turkish Aerial Academy), assigned to the two companies of the 1st Training Battalion. They served between the years 1942 and 1950 and, eventually some of them until 1963 after the refoundation of the Turkish Air Force in 1951.
• Thailand: Both Royal Thai Air Force and Royal Thai Navies employed an unknown number of Magisters as trainers after World War 2. 

Sources:

1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Magister

2. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/magister.htm

3. https://collection.motat.nz/objects/2475/aircraft-miles-m14a-magister-zk-ayw-painted-as-l8353

4. http://www.tayyareci.com/digerucaklar/turkiye/1923ve50/miles-magister.asp

5.Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine - October 1997 - Miles Military Trainers

Avro Anson, part five, Oceanian Users

The Avro Anson was used by every Commonwealth country and, Australia and New Zealand weren't the exception.
Australia was the second largest participant in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Australian government ordered 969 Anson Mk.I in 1935 with the first ones arriving on 19th November 1936 on board of SS Orari. They were assigned to operational duties on coastal patrols and others were allocated to communications units. Seven of them were equipped with dual controls and went to No.1 Aircraft Depot unit based at RAAF Laverton, in Melbourne. Eight squadrons of the Permanent and Citizen Air Force (which was the RAAF reserve unit). A number of naval cooperation exercises were carried out before the start of the war.
In the training role the Anson served with the Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 8 Service Flying Training School (SFTS), Nos. 1, 2, and 3 Air Observers School and the General Reconnaissance School. After the war, many Ansons were sold to private aircraft companies with one of them becoming part of the Governor General's Flight together with an Avro York and a Percival Proctor. When serving with the RAAF, the Anson was not retired until the GAF (Government Aircraft Factories) English Electric Canberra bombers and the CAC (Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation) Sabre were in active.
In New Zealand 24 Ansons (though according to some other source, the number was 23) were imported initially for training purposes. Seven of them were diverted to India and most of the Ansons were used as communication aircraft during and after the war. One of them is restored and at display in the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum at Wigram, Christchurch.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Anson
2. Hall Park Books - Warpaint 53 - Avro Anson
3. http://britishaviation-ptp.com/avro652_3.html

Airspeed AS.6 Envoy, part one

The Airspeed AS.6 Envoy was a British light twin-engined transport aircraft designed and built by Airspeed at Portsmouth Aerodrome, in Hampshire.
As the type was quite popular, it was exported to many countries:

• Australia: As the aircraft became famous thanks to air races, it became very popular within commonwealth's airlines, so the Australian airline Ansett Airlines bought two exemplars. A private-owned Envoy which was registered as VH-UXY and modified with a long-range fuel tank filling the middle of the cabin, was piloted by Charles Ulm when it disappeared in December 1934 when attempting to flight the Pacific route between Oakland, in New Zealand to Honolulu in Hawaii. 
• China-Guangxi: The warlord of this Southern province had at least one Envoy serving with his Air Force. Further details are unknown but it was most probably destroyed during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
• Independent State of Croatia: Two Airspeed AS.6E were given to the ZNDH (Independent State of Croatia's Air Force) by the German Luftwaffe. They were used in the light transport role and were destroyed during the course of the War.
• Czechoslovakia: The Czechoslovak's National Airways, CSA, ordered four AS.6 Envoy JC in 1937 to equip their air routes. When Czechoslovakia was annexed, all of them were passed over to the Luftwaffe.
  Additionally one machine was bought by Vítkovické horní a hutní tezirstvo (Vitkovice Mine & Steel Co.) in 1936 based in the Czech city of Ostrava and was used by his president.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Envoy

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_Air_Force_(Independent_State_of_Croatia)

3. http://britishaviation-ptp.com/airspeed_as6.html

4. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/114447/Airspeed-AS-6E-Envoy