Avro 621
| Avro 621 Tutor | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Trainer aircraft |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
1930 |
| Production time: |
until 1938 |
| Number of pieces: |
795 |
The Avro 621 Tutor was an aircraft produced by the British manufacturer Avro .
history
In 1929, Avro chief designer Roy Chadwick developed a two-seat training aircraft for the RAF as the successor to the legendary, but now outdated Avro 504N . After experiments with metal materials that had already been successfully processed by Fokker and the good experience that had been made with the first Avians with tubular steel frames, Chadwick decided to use metal for this construction as well.
The large, appealing rudder of the Avian was used for the new model. As an engine served fünfzylindriger undisguised Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose-IIIA - radial engine (in the later military version as Mongoose IIIC called).
In December 1929 the prototype with the civil registration G-AAKT was completed in Martlesham and was presented on June 28, 1930 in Hendon. On July 5, 1930, the machine, known as the Avro 621 Trainer, took part in the King's Cup Race , where it demonstrated its excellent maneuverability.
Avro then received an order from the Ministry of Aviation for an initial 21 machines, which were then tested by various units of the Air Force. In March 1930 the Irish Air Force received three machines (there the aircraft was called the "Triton"), one machine with civil registration went to the Australian airline Australian National Airways Ltd.
After this first sales success, the 621 was modified and motorized with the more powerful Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IVC . First two prototypes were equipped with this engine, later a large number of other machines followed with the Lynx IVC.
After their tests, the Air Force decided to put the machine, now known as the Avro 621 Tutor, into service as a standard training aircraft from June 1932. Before that, however, various changes had to be made at the factory; a modified landing gear was installed and ailerons were used on all four surfaces in the first versions only the lower wings had ailerons. Another modification was made due to a requirement of the Aviation Ministry from model year 1934. A machine that was tested in Martlesham in 1936 with further fundamental changes was given the designation Avro 621 Tutor Mk. IIt, but remained a unique piece.
With the success of the Tutor and high sales, Avro introduced new mass production techniques. The machines were completely assembled at the Newton Heath plant, then brought to the Woodford Aerodrome, 24 kilometers away, where they were braced and flown in, and from there they were transferred to the RAF locations.
In addition to the main customer, the British Air Force, machines were delivered to the Danish Navy , the Greek Air Force and the Polish Ministry of Information. Avro signed a license agreement with Denmark, but only three machines were built there.
In the period from 1930 to 1938 Avro produced a total of 795 tutors, 310 of them without engines. Four machines were in service with the British Air Force as trainers until 1939. After the end of the Second World War , a number of tutors in the Luftwaffe went to civilian owners.
A machine (serial number K3215 / registration G-AHSA) still belongs to the aircraft collection in Shuttleworth in Old Warden (England) in an airworthy condition (as of 2005 ).
construction
The Avro 621 Tutor was a two-handled biplane . The fuselage consisted of a tubular steel frame covered with fabric . The two wings were the same length; all surfaces were equipped with ailerons.
The landing gear consisted of a two-wheeled rigid main landing gear and a rigid tail spur.
Variants / projects
Avro 646 Sea Tutor
In the years 1934 to 1936 Avro delivered a pre-series copy and 14 series machines of this type. It was the float version of the Avro 621 Tutor, equipped with twin floats . Until 1938 this machine was in use in Felixstowe and at the Seaplane Training School in Calshot .
Avro 662
The Avro 662 was a further developed 621 with an Armstrong-Siddeley-Lynx engine. This machine was similar to a version of the Avro 626 produced for the Egyptian Air Force , but did not go beyond the development stage.
Avro 669
Also the project Avro 669, a tutor with the 7-cylinder - radial engine Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX was only planned on the drawing board, but never realized.
Military use
-
Denmark : 5 -
Greece : 90+ -
Kingdom of Iraq : 3 -
Ireland : 3 -
Canada : 6 -
Poland : 2 -
China : 5 -
South African Union : 60 -
United Kingdom
- Royal Air Force : 417
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Technical specifications
|
Avro 621
Version with Mongoose IIIC engine |
|
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 2 (an instructor and a student pilot) |
| length | 8.12 m (7.94 m) |
| height | 2.92 m |
| Wingspan | 10.36 m |
| Wing area | 28.07 m² (27.97 m²) |
| Empty mass | 696 kg (836 kg) |
| Max. Takeoff weight (full tank) | 990 kg (1132 kg) |
| drive | an Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose IIIC with an output of 116 kW (157 PS) an Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IVC with an output of 160 kW (218 PS) |
| Top speed | 167 km / h (193 km / h) |
| Cruising speed | 153 km / h (156 km / h) |
| Climb performance | 221 m / min (277 m / min) |
| Service ceiling | 3780 m (4880 m) |
| Range | approx. 610 km (approx. 400 km) |
See also
literature
- JJ Halley: Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000 to K9999. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, Tonbridge 1976, ISBN 0-85130-048-0 .
- AJ Jackson: Avro Aircraft since 1908. 2nd edition, Putnam Aeronautical Books, London 1990, ISBN 0-85177-834-8 .
- O. Thetford: Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57. Putnam, London 1957.
- Pavel Vančata. Cechoslováci v zahraničním odboji. Revi (bi-monthly magazine) # 65, REVI Publications, Ostrava 2006, ISSN 1211-0744 (Czech).
