Avro 581
| Avro 581 Avian | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Sport plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
1926 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Avro 581 Avian was a two-seat biplane produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro .
history
As part of a program to develop an autogiro in collaboration with the Spaniard Juan de la Cierva in 1926, a hull was created at Avro, which was ultimately not used for the project.
So it was decided to use this fuselage as the basis for an airplane in order to compete in a competition advertised by the daily newspaper "Daily Mail" from September 10 to 18, 1926 in Lympne .
Avro chief developer Roy Chadwick decided to use the Armstrong-Siddeley-Genet engine with 70 hp (52.2 kW / 70.97 hp), as it promised the highest performance with the maximum possible installation weight.
The remarkably light aircraft with the type designation Avro 581 Avian had folding wings, only the lower surfaces were provided with ailerons.
Under Avro chief test pilot Bert Hinkler , the machine initially made a good impression at the competition in Lympne, but had to be eliminated due to a technical defect. After a quick repair, Hinkler took part in another competition on September 18, 1926 and was able to win a prize there.
After that, the upper wing should originally be removed; with the type designation Avro 588 , the machine was to take part in a competition for monoplane. This project was discarded and instead the wingspan was shortened from 9.75 m to 8.53 m, the nose was lengthened, the oars were modified and an 85 hp (63.38 kW / 86.18 PS) ADC was built Cirrus II engine. At the same time the name was changed to Avro 581A . As the successful Avro 594 Avian series later emerged from the experience with the 581A at Avro , this one-off piece is considered the prototype and the "forefather" of the Avians.
Bert Hinkler and the Avro 581 - the dream couple
The 581 with the registration G-EBOV was to write flight history - a story that began when Bert Hinkler bought the machine from his employer Avro. In April 1927, Hinkler won various competitions at the "Bournemouth Eastern Meeting" with this aircraft.
In July 1927 the machine got a new and wider chassis, an in-house development by Hinkler with individually suspended wheels. A special feature of this development was that when the wings were folded up, the wheels moved to the height of the center of gravity and the aircraft could therefore be moved on the ground without great effort.
After installing a larger tank, Hinkler flew from Croydon to Riga (about 1,930 km) on August 17, 1927 in 10 hours and 45 minutes, setting a new world record for non-stop flights for aircraft of this size.
The Latvians inspected the small machine with interest after landing, which later earned Avro an order from the Latvian Air Force for several 594 Avians .
On the return flight from Riga, Hinkler tested how the 581A could be flown in the most fuel-efficient way possible, and he made the decision to fly the Avian to his Australian homeland.
For this project, the machine was modified again - it was equipped with a more stable landing gear, wings of the Avro 594C Avian and a metal propeller from Fairey and was given the new type designation Avro 581E .
On February 7, 1928, Hinkler took off from Croydon and landed in Darwin after 15 days and a total flight time of 128 hours; the flight distance was 17,711 km. From Darwin, Hinkler flew on to his hometown Bundaberg .
Bert Hinkler's Avro 581 had covered a total of 56,330 km up to its retirement in January 1930 and is now in the museum of the Australian city of Brisbane .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Avro 581 | Avro 581A / E |
|---|---|---|
| crew | 1 | |
| Passengers | 1 | |
| length | 7.39 m | |
| Wingspan / upper wing | 9.75 m | 8.53 m |
| height | 2.51 m | 2.59 m |
| Wing area | 27.32 m² | 22.77 m² |
| Empty mass | 340 kg | |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 717 kg | |
| drive | an Armstrong-Siddeley-Genet engine; 52.2 kW (70.97 PS) | an ADC Cirrus II engine; 52.2 kW (70.97 PS) |
| Top speed | 113 km / h | |
