Avro 626
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Avro 626 | |
|---|---|
 One of seven Avro Prefects used for navigation training at RAF Andover c. 1933 |
|
| Type | Trainer |
| Manufacturer | Avro |
| Designed by | Roy Chadwick |
| Maiden flight | 1930 |
| Retired | 1945 |
| Primary user | RAF |
| Number built | 198 |
| Variants | Avro 621 |
The Avro 626 is a single engined British biplane trainer aircraft produced by Avro during the inter war period.
Contents |
[edit] Design and development
The Model 626 was developed by Avro from the company's Model 621 for export to smaller air forces, the idea being that the 626 would be a single aircraft that could carry out training as well as a number of other roles. Compared with the pilot training oriented 621, the 626 had an additional cockpit with a scarff ring and carried equipment for air navigation, wireless and gunnery training (a third cockpit was provided behind the normal two-seat configuration). Like the Tutor, it was a conventional fabric-covered, metal airframe with single bay wings, with open cockpits in line astern. The prototype was first flown in 1930.
[edit] Operational history
Avro utilized an aggressive sales and marketing effort to introduce the Model 626 to customers throughout the world. An early production demonstration aircraft, marked G-ABFM [1] was sent by sea to South America in 1931. After demonstrations in Buenos Aires and a record-setting flight over the Andes, the aircraft was commandeered by Argentine military officials to help quell a local uprising. The 626 performed so well that an order was immediately placed for 14 additional aircraft. Numerous sales were made to foreign air forces up to 1939, some of which survived in second-line service until 1945.
[edit] Variants
- Avro 626: Two-three seat multi-purpose aircraft
- Tatra T-126: Licence built 626, manufactured in Czechoslovakia; two versions produced: one with 355 hp Avia Rk. 17 and export version for Turkey and the Balkans with 260 hp Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah V
- Avro Prefect : RAF and RNZAF name for the 626, (in the period most RAF aircraft received names). Some RAF machines were two-seat navigational training aircraft (without the third cockpit installed) [2]. All RNZAF Prefects had three cockpits. To differentiate from the standard 626, the name "Prefect" without a number designation was used by the RAF and RNZAF. [3]
- Avro 637 : Armed patrol version of the Avro 626. Pilot had a Vickers gun mounted on the fueselage while the observer/gunner was armed with a Lewis gun on an Avro low-drag mounting. This variant featured slightly larger wingspan with rounded wingtips. Eight aircraft were sold to the Kwangsi Air Force in China.
[edit] Production
198 Avro 626s were produced.
Argentina received 15.
Austria received 7..svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png)
Belgium 12, 2 of which were still in service at the time of the German invasion in 1940.[4]
Brazil received 16.
Canada received an uncertain number. RCAF machines featured cold weather cowlings, enclosed cockpits and skis. They were issued to No. 3 Squadron and no. 111 squadron; they survived until early World War II.
China China received 8, built one itself, all of which served in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Chile
Czechoslovakia received one and Tatra manufactured an uncertain number under licence.
Egypt received 27 - their first military aircraft, as distinct from DH60 Moths. Egyptian 626s served from 1933 until 1944.
Estonia
Greece received an uncertain number. 21 were in service at the time of the Italian invasion, 3 Hellenic Air Force machines escaped the fall of Greece to join the RAF in the desert.
Ireland received 7, which served until 1941.
Lithuania received an uncertain number, the type was still in service at the time of the Russian invasion.
New Zealand received four Lynx-engined but 3 cockpit aircraft for the RNZAF in 1935. These were used by No 1 Flying Training School. NZ203, c/n 811, survived the war and was purchased by Mr. J. Frogley in 1948 who registered it as ZK-APC. APC ceased flying in 1958 but in the 1980s it was acquired by the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum and returned to the air. It is the sole Prefect known to survive.
Portugal received ten.
Spain received an uncertain number, which served with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War.
United Kingdom received seven two-seater versions with Lynx IVC engines for air navigation; it named these Prefects in RAF service. Delivered in 1935, they operated during World War II on miscellaneous duties.
[edit] Specifications (Avro 626 (Lynx IVC engine))
Data from Avro Aircraft since 1908[5]
General characteristics
- Crew: Two or three
- Length: 26 ft 6 in ((8.08 m))
- Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)
- Height: 9 ft 7 in (2.92m)
- Wing area: 300 ft² (27.9 m²)
- Empty weight: 1,765 lb (801 kg)
- Loaded weight: 2,750 lb (1,247 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IVC 7-cylinder radial, 210 hp (157 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 97 knots (112 mph, 180 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 83 knots (95 mph, 153 km/h)
- Range: 209 nm (240 mi, 386 km)
- Service ceiling 14,800 ft (4,511 m)
- Rate of climb: 880 ft/min (4.5 m/s)
- Wing loading: 9.18 lb/ft² (44.7 kg/m²)
- Power/mass: 0.076 hp/lb (0.126 kW/kg)
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ Jackson 1990, p. 295. Note: No civil aircraft were ever built but civil registration was obtained in order to facilitate their transport abroad.
- ^ Jackson 1990, p. 296.
- ^ Jackson 1990, p. 296-297. Quote: "During their service life these machines were known simply as Avro Prefects without type number, to distinguish them from the Avro 626."
- ^ Pacco 2003, p. 83.
- ^ Jackson 1990, p. 298.
[edit] Bibliography
- Jackson, A.J. Avro Aircraft since 1908, 2nd edition. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1990. ISBN 0-85177-834-8.
- Pacco, John. "Avro 626 'Prefect'" Belgisch Leger/Armee Belge: Het Militair Vliegwezen/l'Aeronautique Militaire 1930-1940. Aartselaar, Belgium, 2003, p. 83. ISBN 90-801136-6-2.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
