Avro Tudor
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| Tudor | |
|---|---|
 A B.S.A.A. Avro Tudor 2 |
|
| Type | Airliner |
| Manufacturer | Avro |
| Designed by | Roy Chadwick |
| Maiden flight | 14 June 1945 |
| Primary users | B.S.A.A BOAC |
| Number built | 38 |
| Developed from | Avro Lincoln |
The Avro Tudor was a British piston-engined airliner based on Avro's four-engine Lincoln bomber, itself a descendant of the famous Avro Lancaster. Although it had reasonably long range, customers saw the aircraft as little more than a pressurised Douglas DC-4, and few orders were forthcoming.
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[edit] Design and development
Avro began work on the Type 688 Tudor in 1943, following Specification 29/43 for a commercial adaptation of the Lancaster IV bomber, which was later renamed Lincoln. Engineer Roy Chadwick, who had worked on the Lancaster, designed the Tudor to incorporate a new pressurized fuselage of circular cross-section, with a useful load of 1,705 kg and a range of 6,400 km.[1]
[edit] 689 Tudor 2
A version with a 25 ft longer and 1 ft greater diameter fuselage was designated the Avro 689 Tudor 2. Unlike the Tudor 1, it was designed to carry up to 60 passengers over shorter Empire air routes. Changes in BOAC requirements eventually increased the length of the aircraft to 105 ft 7 in, the largest airliner produced in the United Kingdom at that time. BOAC ordered 30 aircraft and eventually increased the order to 79 in cooperation with QANTAS and South African Airways. The prototype Tudor G-AGSU first flew on 10 March 1946 at Woodford. The changes in design resulted in a loss of performance and the aircraft could not be used in hot and high conditions which resulted in Qantas ordering the Constellation and South African Airways the DC-4 Skymaster instead and the order was reduced to 50.
During further testing, the prototype was destroyed on 23 August 1947; among those killed was the designer, Roy Chadwick. The engines on the second prototype were changed to Bristol Hercules radials and the aircraft became the prototype Tudor 7, which did not go into production. Unimpressed by the type's performance during further tropical trials, BOAC did not operate the Tudor 2 and only three production Tudor 2s were built. Six aircraft were built for British South American Airways as the Tudor 5.
[edit] 711 Trader
Six aircraft ordered as Tudor 2s were to be modified with tricycle landing gear, for use by BSAA as freighters, and designated the 711 Trader. They were not built, but a parallel design using the same landing gear was produced as the jet-powered Ashton.
[edit] Operational history
Two prototypes were ordered in March 1944; the first, G-AGPF, was assembled at Manchester's Ringway Airport and first flew on 14 June 1945.[2]
Early Tudors had a short, rounded, fin and rudder; this was discovered to provide insufficient directional stability, and so in later aircraft a taller, straight-edged, fin/rudder combination of greater overall area was fitted. Chadwick was killed on 23 August 1947, aboard a prototype Tudor 2 that crashed due to control reversal after the ailerons were improperly rigged.
The Tudor was used as the basis for the Avro Ashton experimental jet aircraft.
[edit] Variants
All built by Avro at Woodford Aerodrome.
- 688 Tudor 1
- Production variant, 12 built, later conversion to other variants.
- 689 Tudor 2
- Stretched version, five built.
- 688 Tudor 3
- Tudor 1 modified by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft as executive transport aircraft. it could seat up to nine passengers, two built.
- 688 Tudor 4
- Stretched version of the Tudor 1 (but not the same as the Tudor 2 with the fuselage lengthened by only 6ft (1.83m)). It could seat up to 32 passengers, 11 built.
- 688 Tudor 4B
- As Tudor 4 but retained the Tudor 1s flight engineers station, Small number of Tudor 1s were converted into Tudor 4Bs.
- 689 Tudor 5
- Tudor 2 for BSAA, powered by four 1,770-hp (1,312-kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin 621 piston engines, six built. One aircraft crashed in 1950 killing 80 in the Llandow Air Disaster.
- 689 Tudor 6
- Ordered by the Argentinian airline FAMA, but the order was cancelled. None of the airframes were completed.
- 689 Tudor 7
- Tudor 2 fitted with four 1,750-hp (1,305-kW) Bristol Hercules 120 radial piston engines, one prototype only.
- 688 Tudor 8
- Jet-engined version of the Tudor 1. Tudor 1 VX195 was fitted with four Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engines.
- Tudor 9
- Jet-engined version of the Tudor 2, became the 706 Ashton
- Super Trader 4B
- Re-engined version. Fitted with four 1,760-hp (1,305-kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin 23 piston engines.
- Tudor Freighter 1
- Freight and cargo version. Three aircraft were used by BOAC during the 1949 Berlin Airlift.
- 711 Trader
- Proposed freighter development of the Tudor 2 fitted with a tricycle landing gear; not built.
[edit] Operators
- Lome Airways
- Air Charter
- Airflight
- British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC)
- British South American Airways
- Surrey Flying Services
[edit] Specifications (Avro 688 Tudor 1)
Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II[3]
General characteristics
- Crew: 5 (two pilots, flight engineer, radio operator, navigator)
- Capacity: 24 passengers
- Length: 79 ft 6 in (24.23 m)
- Wingspan: 120 ft 0 in (36.58 m)
- Height: 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m)
- Wing area: 1,421 ft² (132 m²)
- Loaded weight: 66,000 lb (30,000 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 76,000 lb (34,500 kg)
- Powerplant: 4× Rolls-Royce Merlin 100 12-cylinder V12 engines, 1,770 hp (1,320 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 320 mph (512 km/h) at 8,000 ft (2,440 m)
- Cruise speed: 283 mph (453 km/h) at 12,000 ft (3,660 m)
- Range: 3,630 mi (5,840 km)
- Service ceiling 30,100 ft (9,180 m)
- Rate of climb: 990 ft/min (5 m/s)
- Wing loading: 53.5 lb/ft² (261 kg/m²)
[edit] See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Avro Tudor." Virtual Aircraft Museum. Retrieved: 10 January 2006.
- ^ "Avro Timeline." Avro Museum, 2005. Retrieved: 10 January 2006.
- ^ Jane 1946, p. 104.
[edit] Bibliography
- Angelucci, Enzo and Matricardi, Paolo. World Aircraft - Commercial Aircraft 1935-1960. London: Sampson Low Guides, 1979. ISBN 0-562-00125-5.
- Holmes, Harry. Avro - The History of an Aircraft Company. Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press, 2004. ISBN 1-86126-651-0.
- Jackson, A.J. Avro Aircraft since 1908, 2nd edition. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1990. ISBN 0-85177-834-8.
- Jane, Fred T. “The Avro 688 Tudor I.” Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London: Studio, 1946. ISBN 1-85170-493-0.
[edit] External links
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