Avro 500
The Avro 500 is a two-seat biplane aircraft of the British manufacturer Avro.
General
In 1911 the British War Office created a specification for a two-seat military aircraft that is 350 lbs - should reach have payload and a flight time of 4.5 hours and thereby for a period of at least one hour a height of about - about 160 kg could hold. 1,370 meters. The machine should be able to reach a top speed of about 88 km / h and a climb rate of approximately 1 m / s. In addition, the aircraft for land transport in a box should be relatively easy to disassemble. Participating in the tendering firms remained only nine months to construct and introduce such a machine.
Avro subsequently developed an aircraft based on the Duigan biplane with improved aerodynamics. The chassis of the Duigan for example, was adopted without change.
The machine originally was called the " Military Biplane " meaning " military biplane ", but was better known as the "Type E".
The first flight of the prototype, driven by a water-cooled ENV engine with an output of 44.7 kW ( 60.8 hp), took place on March 3, 1912, it was immediately apparent that the requirements of the military were far exceeded.
Nevertheless AV Roe was not even after experiments with an ABC engine with 44.7 kW also with the design yet satisfied. He built after the crash of the first prototype during a training flight on June 29, 1913 a second machine with the though weaker, but much lighter Gnome 7- cylinder radial engine. After this aircraft had filed all required performance tests with flying colors before the eyes of the military, it was immediately purchased and two other machines ordered with dual controls.
Roe was of the opinion that this second prototype is the first truly successful airplane out of his house and gave this structure the name Avro 500; began at Avro the consecutive numbering of the individual series.
The beginning of 1913 another three machines were delivered to the War Office, the Admiralty also received two machines, one aircraft was delivered to the Portuguese government. Another machine, originally as a demo machine for Avro operation was later given to the Navy. The last built 500 again received the Air Force.
The aircraft were partially, some manufactured in Avro plant in Manchester in the factory at the Shoreham Aerodrome in Sussex.
Some of the Avro 500 were still in the early years of the First World War, in Luftwaffe service; of a machine is known that she had been fitted with a Gnome engine with twice the power of the production version.
Construction
The Avro 500 was a zweistieliger biplane, the hull was constructed in fabric-covered wood.
The chassis consisted of a two-wheeled sprung main gear and an also sprung tail skid.
Military use
- Royal Flying Corps
- Royal Naval Air Service
Specifications
Type E prototype: 9.30 m
Type E prototype: an EPS Type -F engine with 37.3 kW ( 50.7 hp)
Type E prototype: 499 kg
Type E prototype: 748 kg
Variant Avro 502/Type It
Convinced of the benefits of the two-seat Avro 500 ordered the British Air Force in November 1912, four copies of this aircraft in a single-seater variant.
To distinguish the two-seat variant of this type received Avro internally refers to 502, the military designation was Type It.