Avro 500
| Avro 500 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | multi-role military aircraft |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
March 3, 1912 |
| Number of pieces: |
18th |
The Avro 500 is a two-seat biplane - airplane of the British manufacturer Avro .
General
In 1911, the British War Office created a specification for a two-seat military aircraft that should have a payload of 350 lbs - which corresponds to about 160 kg - and a flight time of 4.5 hours and a height of approx Could hold 1370 meters. The machine should be able to reach a top speed of around 88 km / h and a rate of climb of around 1 m / s. In addition, the aircraft should be relatively easy to dismantle for land transport in a box. The companies participating in the tender only had nine months to design and present such a machine.
Avro then developed an aircraft based on the Duigan biplane with improved aerodynamics. The chassis of the Duigan, for example, was taken over unchanged.
The machine was originally named "Military Biplane", ie "military double-decker", but became better known under the name "Type E".
The first flight of the prototype, powered by a water-cooled ENV engine with an output of 44.7 kW (60.8 hp), took place on March 3, 1912 and it immediately became apparent that the requirements of the military could be exceeded by far.
Nevertheless, even after tests with an ABC motor with 44.7 kW , AV Roe was still not satisfied with the design. After the crash of the first prototype during a training flight on June 29, 1913, he built a second machine with the weaker, but much lighter, Gnome 7-cylinder radial engine. After this aircraft had passed all the required performance tests with flying colors in front of the military, it was immediately purchased and two more machines with double controls were ordered.
Roe was of the opinion that this second prototype was the first really successful aircraft from his house and gave this design the name Avro 500; This was the beginning of the consecutive numbering of the individual series at Avro.
In early 1913 another three machines were delivered to the War Office. In addition, the Admiralty received two machines. An airplane was delivered to the Portuguese government. Another machine, originally used as a demonstration machine for Avro, was later given to the Navy. The last 500 built was again given to the Air Force.
Some of the aircraft were built at Avro's Manchester facility and some at the Shoreham Aerodrome in Sussex.
Some of the Avro 500 were still in the air force in the first years of World War I ; one machine is known to have been equipped with a Gnome engine with twice the power of the production version.
construction
The Avro 500 was a two-legged biplane, the fuselage was constructed in a fabric-covered wood construction.
The landing gear consisted of a two-wheeled, sprung main landing gear and a likewise sprung tail spur.
Military use
Technical specifications
| Avro 500 / Type E | |
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| length | Avro 500: 8.84 m Type E prototype: 9.30 m |
| height | 2.97 m |
| Wingspan | 10.97 m |
| drive | Avro 500: a Gnome engine with 37.3 kW (50.7 hp) Type E prototype: an ENV Type F engine with 37.3 kW (50.7 PS) |
| Top speed | approx. 98 km / h |
| crew | 2 |
| Empty weight | Avro 500: 408 kg Type E prototype: 499 kg |
| Max. Takeoff weight | Avro 500: 590 kg Type E prototype: 748 kg |
Variant Avro 502 / Type Es
Convinced by the performance of the two-seat Avro 500, the British Air Force ordered four single-seat versions of this aircraft in November 1912.
In order to distinguish it from the two-seater variant, this type received the designation 502 internally in Avro, the military designation was Type Es.
See also
literature
- AJ Jackson: Avro Aircraft since 1908. Putnam, London 1990, ISBN 0-85177-834-8 .
- P. Lewis: British Aircraft 1809-1914. Putnam, London 1962.
- World Aircraft Information Files. File 889 Sheet 92. BrightStar, London.
