Making its first flight on 24 June 1960 the prototype AVRO 748, G-APZV, became a very successful rugged replacement for the many DC-3 Dakotas flying around the world. In production, it became the second most successful British turboprop transport aircraft and was only superseded in numbers produced by those of the Vickers Viscount. A total of 381 Hawker Siddeley HS 748 aircraft were built, including eighty-nine manufactured under license by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in India, with production running from 1960 to 1988 for this successful turboprop airliner and its military variant, the Andover. The total included, thirty-seven Andovers for the RAF and RNZAF.
