Avro 547
| Avro 547 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | single-engine airliner |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
February 1920 |
| Number of pieces: |
2 |
The Avro 547 was a three - decker designed single-engine airliner made by the British manufacturer AVRoe & Company in the 1920s. It had a closed passenger cabin for four people and an open pilot cockpit. Due to its poor flight performance, only one of the two models built found a buyer.
history
Although a fundamentally new development, many components of the successful Avro 504 model were used in the Avro 547 , such as the wings and connecting bars, the landing gear and the tail units. The maiden flight of the first 547 took place in February 1920 . Test flights in the spring of 1920 showed similar flight characteristics as the Avro 504K.
In response to a tender by the British Aviation Ministry for a light commercial aircraft, a second machine was built in June 1920, equipped with a 240 hp Siddeley Puma engine. Due to the specifications of the tender, the second machine, known as the Avro 547A, differed in that it had more foot space for the passengers, padded benches, interior lighting and a passage between the cockpit and passenger cabin.
However, an order was not awarded because the aircraft was too unstable and too slow. To make matters worse, a landing gear strut was damaged in a hard landing during the competition; about 15 minutes later, the entire undercarriage of the parked machine broke. After the repair, the 547A completed a few test flights and was dismantled in August 1921.
Regardless of the poor performance of the sister machine , the Australian airline QANTAS acquired the first-built 547 in November 1920 for a purchase price of around 2800 British pounds. QANTAS intended a scheduled service between the cities of Melbourne and Darwin , and the Avro 547 would take over the section between Charleville and Katherine .
The first tests in Australia showed that this machine too had a too weak chassis; it was reinforced and fitted with rubber shock absorbers.
The 547A won second place in the Australian Aerial Derby in 1922, but it turned out that the machine was not up to the tough conditions in Australia. The Australian aviation authority denied the aircraft approval as a scheduled aircraft. The executive suite at QANTAS was so disappointed about this that since then no more business has been started between this airline and the Avro company.
The hull of the 547A later found an inglorious end as a chicken coop in Sydney.
After the bad experience with the first two machines, a third 547 that had already started at Avro was never completed.
construction
The Avro 547 was a two-legged, braced triplane with wings of the same depth. The wings consisted of a wooden structure covered with fabric. The fuselage was a wooden construction, planked with plywood in the front area and covered with fabric in the stern area. The landing gear consisted of a rigid two-wheeled main landing gear and a rigid tail spur. One copy later received a spring-loaded chassis.
The 547 was powered by a water-cooled 160 hp Beardmore engine . It had an aileron on each wing, and the middle surfaces were provided with an additional lift aid.
The pilot cockpit behind the wings was not, as usual, in the center, but on the left side of the fuselage, strangely enough on the same side as the exhaust pipe, which obstructed the view. The passenger cabin in front of it could accommodate four passengers, with two people sitting opposite each other on unpadded benches. When the benches were removed, there was space for light cargo or mail.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Avro 547 | Avro 547 A |
|---|---|---|
| crew | 1 pilot | |
| Passengers | 4th | |
| length | 9.09 m | |
| height | 4.39 m | |
| span | 11.35 m | |
| Wing area | 46.30 m² | |
| Empty mass | 942 kg | 1116 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 1361 kg | 1663 kg |
| Engine | a Beardmore, 120 kW (162 PS) | a Siddeley Puma, 179 kW (243 PS) |
| Top speed | 154 km / h | 153 km / h |
| Cruising speed | 134 km / h | 129 km / h |
| Rate of climb | 1525 m in 15 min | 3050 m in 19 min |
| Range | 370 km | 450 km |
