Avro 552
| 552 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Civil utility aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Avro Canadian Vickers(under licence) |
| Primary users | Argentine Navy |
| Number built | 33 |
| History | |
| First flight | 16 July 1921 |
TheAvro 552was a British lightbiplaneaircraft produced in the early 1920s. It was another attempt byAvroto sell a derivative of the wartime504to the civil market.
Design and development
[edit]In this case, the company took advantage of the large number of war-surplusWolseley Viperengines left over fromRoyal Aircraft Factory S.E.5aproduction. In 1921, one of these was married to a standard 504K airframe for evaluation under the designationAvro 551.Trials proved encouraging, but an extra fuel tank was installed in the upper wing as a result of the Viper's higher rate of fuel consumption, and changes were also made to theailerondesign.
This configuration went into production as the552,with theArgentine Navypurchasing 12 examples of afloat-equipped version, the552A,[1]which served as trainers until1927.Two similar machines were purchased byBulgaria.
In1924,theRoyal Canadian Air Forcearranged forCanadian Vickersto purchase a licence to produce five landplanes and nineseaplaneexamples for use inforestrypatrol. These differed from British-built aircraft by the use of U.S.Naval Aircraft Factoryfloats, and increased fuel tankage for extended range. One of the license-built seaplanes was fitted with a Wright engine and known in Canadian service as theAvro Wright.Licensed production was also undertaken by C.B. Field ofKingswood Knoll,Surrey,who built three aircraft from surplus components supplied by Avro. These were flown as banner tugs byInca Aviationuntil1935.
The fuselage of the 552 prototype,G-EAPRwas later used as the basis for theCierva C.8autogyro,but was eventually converted back to the winged configuration by a private owner when disposed of by the company.
Operators
[edit]
- Bulgarian Air Forceand naval aviation
Specifications (552)
[edit]General characteristics
- Crew:one pilot
- Capacity:one passenger or instructor
- Length:28 ft 0 in (8.54 m)
- Wingspan:36 ft 0 in (10.98 m)
- Height:10 ft 5 in (3.18 m)
- Wing area:330 sq ft (30.7 m2)
- Gross weight:2,260 lb (1,025 kg)
- Powerplant:1 ×Wolseley Viper,180 hp (134 kW)
References
[edit]- ^Avro 552Archived3 May 2010 at theWayback Machine(in Spanish)
Bibliography
[edit]- Anderson, Lennart (November–December 2019). "La renaissance de l'aviation militair bulgare dans les années vingt" [The Rebirth of Bulgarian Military Aviation in the Twenties].Avions(in French) (232): 52–66.ISSN1243-8650.
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989).Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation.London: Studio Editions. p. 93.
External links
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