Armstrong Whitworth AW650
| Armstrong Whitworth AW650 Argosy | |
|---|---|
 Armstrong-Whitworth AW650 Argosy |
|
| Type: | Cargo plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
January 8, 1959 |
| Commissioning: |
1961 |
| Number of pieces: |
74 |
The Armstrong Whitworth Argosy (depending on the version AW650 or AW660 ) is a British four-engine freighter with turboprop propulsion. Between the two world wars, the same manufacturer had already built a passenger aircraft under the name " Argosy ".
development
Although the airfreight business experienced a steady upswing in the late 1950s, Armstrong-Whitworth (later Hawker-Siddeley) did not succeed in successfully placing the advanced design of the cargo aircraft with the name Argosy, which was equipped with two propeller turbines and a twin tailplane. The project work on the four-engine transport machine began in 1956, and two years later, on January 8, 1959, the first of ten machines from the 101 series flew.
The Argosy has a large cargo deck with a pressurized cabin, which in the civilian version AW650 can be loaded from the front as well as from the rear. The cockpit is arranged in an elevated position above the cargo deck. Since the entire development costs had to be borne by the manufacturer, the wings of the reconnaissance bomber Avro Shackleton and the engine nacelles of the Vickers Viscount 800 were taken over in order to save money. Similar to the Nord Noratlas , the Argosy is equipped with double tail girders to facilitate loading through the rear gate.
As a launch customer, Riddle Airlines from the USA placed a provisional order initially for four aircraft, which was soon converted into a firm order increased to seven aircraft. At the end of 1960, British European Airways (BEA) also decided to get more involved in the air freight business and acquired the remaining three aircraft as Argosy 102.
In contrast to the 101 series, the BEA machines were windowless and equipped with a Rolamat loading system for pallet transport. Riddle put the Argosy 101 into service in January 1961, followed by BEA in December of that year. Meanwhile, in May 1961, an improved Argosy 200 had been projected. This variant, which can be used for both passenger and freight transport, received, as major changes, completely revised wings with a longer service life and larger freight doors at the front and rear to accommodate pallets in standard sizes. The first Argosy 200 flew on March 11, 1964. After the previously used engines were replaced by more powerful Dart 532/1, each with 2,230 WPS (1,640.1 WkW), this version was given the type designation Argosy 222.
Six machines of this version were built for the BEA, which they first used in February 1965. For this, the airline returned its three 102 series copies to the manufacturer. After the availability of the larger Aviation Traders V.953C Merchantman (conversion of the Vickers V.950 Vanguard ), BEA sold its Argosy fleet, which was relatively expensive to operate, to the Canadian airline Transair in 1970. Only 17 civil Argosy aircraft were built and production ended on October 30, 1966 with the delivery of the last Argosy 222 to BEA. The Argosy was last used in Europe in 1985 by the British express freight company Elan Air. Most Argosy found their way to Australia and New Zealand, where they were used by IPEC and SAFE Air until 1992.
The largest operator of the Argosy was the transport command of the Royal Air Force , which from 1961 until its decommissioning at the end of 1975 a total of 56 aircraft of the AW660 series with six operational squadrons and one retraining unit in the United Kingdom (main base was RAF Benson ) and overseas ( RAF Akrotiri , RAF Changi and RAF Kormaksar ) under the type designation Argosy C Mk.1 as a standard medium-distance transporter in use. After 1975 the few specimens that had not been scrapped or that had been preserved for museums were sold to civilian operators.
variants
- AW650 - Civilian variants
-
AW660 - Military variants:
- Elimination of the bow loading gate, replaced by a built-in toilet and galley
- EKCO weather radar in the nose
- the side-opening rear loading door has been replaced by a door that can be opened up and down in flight
- up to 72 passenger seats facing backwards
- Maximum take-off mass increased by around 7600 kg
- additional fuel tanks in the wing between the two tail girders
- almost doubled range
- reinforced chassis
- Rover APU in the left tail boom
- more powerful Dart RDa.8 Mk 101 engines with 2,470 WPS each
- Propeller enlarged to 3.50 meters
Military use
Incidents
From 1965 to the decommissioning in 1991 there were 12 total losses with 13 deaths. Example:
- On December 4, 1967, the pilots of an Argosy 222 ( G-ASXP ) of British European Airways tried to take off from Stansted Airport with a simulated engine failure . After taking off, there was a loss of control, the machine overturned on the ground and burned out. The three-man crew survived.
Technical data (series 101/102)
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 2-3 |
| Passengers | 69-89 |
| length | 26.44 m |
| span | 35.05 m |
| height | 8.23 m |
| payload | 12,700 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 39,917 kg |
| Cruising speed | 450 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 6,900 m |
| Range | 2,700 km |
| Engines | four propeller turbines Rolls-Royce Dart 526, 2,100 WPS (1,544.5 kW) |
See also
literature
- WT Gunston: AW660. A multi-mission military transport. Flight, February 10, 1961, pp. 181-185.
- CG Jefford, MBE, BA, RAF (Retd.): RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Airlife Publishing, Shrewsbury 1988 (second edition 2001), ISBN 1-85310- 053-6 .
- Oliver Tapper: Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft since 1913. Putnam, London 1988, ISBN 0-85177-826-7 .
- John WR Taylor: Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1965-66. Marston & Company, London 1965.
- Martin Willing: Hawker Siddeley's Crisp Carrier. Homage to the AW Argosy. Part One. Air Enthusiast, No. 105, May June 2003, Key Publishing, Stamford 2003, ISSN 0143-5450 , pp. 40-43.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Susann Harris: Encyclopedia of the aircraft: technology, models, data . Ed .: Aerospace Publishing Ltd. Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1994, ISBN 3-89350-055-3 , p. 371 .
- ↑ Air-Britain Aeromilitaria (English), December 2016, pp. 187–188.
- ↑ Accident statistics Argosy , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 24, 2017.
- ^ Accident report Argosy G-ASXP , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 19, 2016.