Avro 618
| Avro 618 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Airliner , transport aircraft |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
1929 |
| Commissioning: |
1930 |
| Number of pieces: |
14th |
The Avro 618 Ten was a three-engine passenger and transport aircraft made by the British manufacturer Avro in the late 1920s.
It was a licensed replica of the Dutch Fokker F.VII / b3m . The term ten (English for ten ) refers to the capacity of the aircraft, eight passengers and two crew members.
history
In 1928 Avro technicians toured the factory of the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker . This visit led to a cooperation between Avro and Fokker and a license to build the Fokker F.VII / b3m, a three-engine high- wing aircraft . The license agreement allowed Avro to sell the machines throughout the British Empire, but not in Canada.
Strangely enough, this machine had various features that had previously been strictly rejected by those responsible at the British Aviation Department. However, the Ministry of Aviation had already had a Fokker F.VII / b3m since May 1926, which had been delivered spectacularly at the time. The Fokker chief test pilot had performed a loop shortly before landing and impressed those present with it. Since all tests of this machine at the Ministry of Aviation were also satisfactory, this paved the way for the license to build the Fokker at Avro.
The license version of Avro was by and large identical to the prototype and only differed in details from the Fokker machine in order to meet British regulations. Avro presented the new model to the public at the "Olympia Aero Show" in London in July 1929.
construction
The Avro 618 Ten was a high-wing aircraft, the wing was planked with plywood. The fuselage consisted of a fabric-covered tubular steel construction. One of the three engines was built into the nose of the fuselage, the other two engines hung under the wings. The non-retractable landing gear consisted of a spring-loaded two-wheeled main landing gear and a rigid tail spur.
The machine was powered by three Armstrong-Siddeley-Lynx-IVB in - line engines, each with an output of 179 kW (243 hp) .
use
A total of 14 aircraft were built by the Avro 618 , five of them as initial equipment for the scheduled service of the airline Australian National Airways Ltd., newly founded by the Australian aviation pioneer Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in 1929 . The aircraft on the names were baptized Southern Cloud , Southern Moon , Southern Sky , Southern Star and Southern Sun . From April 1931 these machines participated in the first test of the planned airmail connection England-Australia. One of the pilots was James Allan Mollison , the future husband of aviation pioneer Amy Johnson .
However, since the Australian lines quickly got into economic difficulties, the Tens were in operation at various companies within a short time. One machine was rebuilt, the airframe was strengthened, it received larger wings and more powerful engines, a Wright Whirlwind J6-7 with 246 kW (335 hp). The aircraft, christened "Faith in Australia", was supposed to do a world tour; However, this project was canceled due to problems with the engines and a broken landing gear when the machine reached England. After the repair and modification in the Avro factory, the machine was flown back to Australia and set a new world record for this route with a time of 6 days, 17 hours and 45 minutes.
In the period that followed, the Avro 618 Tens showed solid performance with a wide variety of airlines, one machine was also used by the Egyptian Air Force .
The last airworthy still in Australia Ten - the Faith in Australia - was with refugee evacuation flights in Guinea participated in the 1,941th
The last machine was given on July 27, 1937 to the Wireless And Equipment Flight of the Royal Aircraft Establishment for test purposes; there it was only in use for three months until October 1937.
Military use
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Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 8th |
| length | 14.48 m |
| height | 3.89 m |
| span | 21.72 m ( Faith in Australia : approx. 22.90 m) |
| Wing area | 71.75 m² |
| Empty mass | 2731 kg |
| Max. Takeoff weight (full tank) | 4808 kg ( Faith in Australia : 7257 kg) |
| drive | three in-line engines Armstrong-Siddeley Lynx -IVB- or -IVC, each 179 kW (243 PS) Faith in Australia : three Wright J6 -7 Whirlwinds, each 246 kW (335 PS) |
| Top speed | 185 km / h |
| Cruising speed | 161 km / h |
| Climb performance | 206 m / min |
| Service ceiling | 4875 m |
| Range | 645 km |
See also
literature
- AJ Jackson: Avro Aircraft since 1908. , 2nd edition, Putnam Aeronautical Books, London 1990, ISBN 0-85177-834-8 .
- Joan Priest: Virtue in Flying. Angus & Robertson, 1975, ISBN 0-207-13230-5 .
