S.Ransom, R.Fairclough English Electric Aircraft and their Predecessors (Putnam)

Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate Avis

   The Avis Monoplanes were designed by W.O. Manning and built by Howard T. Wright for the Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate of 166 Piccadilly, London, W. Known, as the Golden Plover, the prototype, which was fitted with a 3O hp Anzani engine, was completed at Battersea in December 1909, and delivered to Brooklands for testing. In January 1910, the Hon Alan R. Boyle, who had founded the Syndicate made the initial trials. These did not prove entirely satisfactory and the aircraft was brought back to Battersea to be re-engined with a 35 hp Anzani. A tail unit of decreased area was also fitted. The aircraft, renamed Avis, returned to Brooklands, where Boyle achieved his first straight flights with it in March and April, and his first circular flight in the following month. A little later, he flew the Avis at the 1910 Wolverhampton aviation meeting to win first prize for endurance in the monoplane class with a time in the air of 7 min 53 sec. Early in June, Boyle took delivery of a second aircraft of the type to which he allotted his personal coding, No. 3 being painted on the rudder. Apparently, Boyle regarded his previous machine as having two separate identities. The official nomenclature of Boyle's 'third' aircraft was Avis I and it was fitted with a 40 hp ENV engine. At Brooklands on 14 June, he used his new machine to gain Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 13. Almost one month later, at the Bournemouth aviation meeting, Boyle was severely concussed when he crashed in Avis I. In the meantime the prototype Avis had been sold to Maconie. (Unfortunately nothing has been found to identify Mr Maconie or even confirmation of the spelling of his name. There was a statement in The Aero dated 10 August, 1910, which read 'Mr Maconie has put in several days practice on his Avis monoplane, and is rapidly gaining control of the machine.')
   Meanwhile, the 40 hp JAP-engined Avis II had been exhibited at the 1910 Olympia Aero Show on the stand of the Aeroplane Supply Co, which acted as selling agents for the Syndicate. After the show it was bought by R.F. Wickham, who had the misfortune, whilst flying it, to experience an engine failure over the sewage farm at Brooklands. Wickham managed to land the aircraft but in doing so struck a raised cement canal crossing the farm. Damage to the machine was extensive. Avis III, also fitted with a 40 hp JAP engine, was purchased by J. Herbert Spottiswode, a well-known racing driver at Brooklands. On 5 October, 1910, Spottiswode piloted Avis III to fifth place in a competition sponsored by the Brooklands Automobile Racing Club, which offered monetary prizes for the greatest aggregate times in the air. N.C. Neill, offered a gold cup, also, to the pilot who flew the longest distance. The event was won outright by Graham Gilmour flying Big Bat with a total time of 2 hr 59 min 16 sec, Spottiswode's aggregate was less than five minutes. Avis III was later purchased by Campbell-Gray, a photographer of 88 Edgware Road, London, who used it for humorous publicity. On recovering from his accident, Boyle returned to flying at Brooklands with the purchase of Avis IV. With the collapse of the Syndicate, however, this aircraft became the subject of the country's first recorded aeronautical auction, held in December 1910, when it was sold, complete with JAP engine, to Eustace Gray, Brooklands' press steward, for ?50.
   In appearance the Avis closely resembled many other single-seat monoplanes of the period but the type could be distinguished by its universally-mounted Demoiselle-style tail unit. The fuselage, made of ash, was of conventional wire-braced box-girder construction. The aircraft was controlled by warping the parallel-chord wings from foot pedals, and by the cruciform tail from a control column pivoted at its lower end, the elevator being operated by fore and aft movement of the column and the rudder by turning the wheel attached at the column's upper end. The twin-skid undercarriage was of sturdy construction and each item of it could be replaced without it being totally dismantled. Two pairs of wheels were attached across the skids by rubber cord shock-absorbers and the support for the small tailwheel incorporated a helical spring. The prototype aircraft was fitted with a Chauviere propeller but one made by Howard Wright from a single piece of Kauri pine was fitted together with the more powerful Anzani. All subsequent versions of the Avis had Wright-built propellers.
   In flight the Avis was easily controlled and because it had been designed with its centre of gravity well forward, so that there was little or no load on the tail, the take-off was lively, the slipstream from the propeller immediately lifting the tail on starting the engine.
   The design was developed further as the 1910 Monoplane.

Avis (as general arrangement)
   Span 27 ft; length 27 ft; height 9 ft 2 in; wing chord 6 ft 4 in; wing dihedral 5°; wing incidence 9°; propeller diameter 6 ft 3 in; main undercarriage track 4 ft 6 m; wing area 170.4 sq ft; elevator area 22 sq ft; rudder area 14 sq ft.
   Weight without engine 280 lb; weight empty 430 lb; weight loaded 630 lb.
   Cruising speed 35 mph; maximum speed 40 mph.
   Price ?370-?490.

M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)

P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)

Howard Wright Avis

   The Avis Monoplane was designed by Howard T. Wright for the Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate of 166 Piccadilly, London, W. Four were constructed during 1909-10 at the Battersea railway arches workshop of his brother. Warwick Wright. The 30 h.p. three-cylinder Anzani-engined prototype, known as The Golden Plover, flew early in 1910 at Brooklands. The Avis was exhibited at the Olympia Aero Show of the same year and was flown by the Hon. Alan R. Boyle at the 1910 Wolverhampton Aviation Meeting for 5 miles at a height of 40 ft.
   The other Avis Monoplanes received 40 h.p. eight-cylinder J.A.P. engines and were flying successfully during 1910 at Brooklands, piloted by R. F. Wickham and J. H. Spottiswoode. After using his Avis No. 3 to gain his Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 13 at Brooklands on 14th June, 1910, Boyle was unfortunate enough to wreck it at the great flying meeting held at Bournemouth from Nth to 16th July, 1910, and sustained concussion.
   In general appearance the machine resembled the Bleriot XI design, combined with a Demoiselle-style tail unit. The rudder and elevators were of cruciform type and were mounted on a universal joint at the extreme rear of the fuselage. The rest of the Avis was quite conventional for the time at which it was built, with the rear of the wire-braced wooden-girder fuselage left uncovered. Warping was used for lateral control by means of pedals, the wings being braced from a high cabane above the cockpit. The undercarriage was a sturdy and simple arrangement of splayed struts, combined with skids across which the two pairs of wheels were mounted on their axles, which incorporated rubber shock-absorbing. A sprung tailwheel completed the landing-gear of a design which was among the first of the successful British monoplanes.

SPECIFICATION

   Description: Single-seat tractor monoplane. Wooden structure, fabric covered.
   Manufacturers: Warwick Wright, Ltd., 110 Marylebone High Street, London, N.W.I, and Battersea, S.W.11.
   Power Plant: 30 h.p. Anzani, 40 h.p. J.A.P.
   Dimensions: Span, 28 ft. Length, 27 ft. Wing area, 160 sq. ft.
   Weights: Empty, 430 lb. Loaded, 630 lb.
   Performance: Maximum speed, 40 m.p.h.
   Price: ?370-?490.

Журнал Flight

Flight, March 12, 1910

THE AVIS MONOPLANE.

   AMONG the new British-built monoplanes at the Aero Show is one exhibited by the Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate. For some time past the first machine of this type has been undergoing practical tests at Brooklands. The machine has a neat, light, and strong appearance. The main wings have a span of 27 ft. and a chord of 6 ft. 6 ins.; they are set at a slight dihedral angle. Lateral stability is obtained by warping, and longitudinal stability by the manipulation of a crossplane tail similar in design to that used on Santos Dumont's "Demoiselle."
   An uncommon feature of the control is that the warping is accomplished by pedals, the pilot depressing the pedal on that side of the machine that is at the lower level, in order to restore equilibrium. Those who have studied modern systems of control will observe that this is, in one sense, the reverse of that commonly adopted inasmuch as those machines that have hand-controlled warping of the wings are so arranged that the lever is pressed over to the right when the right wing is too high and vice versa. The machine is driven by a tractor - screw, mounted direct upon the crank - shaft of a 25-30 - h.p. Anzani engine.
   The machine is mounted upon a pair of long skis, carried upon three groups of struts. A pair of wheels is placed on either side of each ski, the axles being attached by stout rubber in order to absorb the shock of landing. Attention has been paid to the detachability of the former members, and as far as possible provision has been made for easily renewing any that get broken.
   The total weight of the machine is stated to be only 430 lbs., of which 150 lbs. represents the weight of the engine.


Flight, April 16, 1910

FLYER SILHOUETTES FROM OLYMPIA.

THE AVIS MONOPLANE.

Leading Particulars of the Avis.

General Dimensions.-Areas-Main planes, 160 sq. ft.; fixed tail, horizontal, 30 sq. ft., vertical, 25 sq. ft.; elevator, 15 sq. ft.; rudder, 9 sq. ft.
Lengths.-Span, 28 ft.; chord, 6 ft. 6 ins.; camber, 4 ins.; leverage of rudder, 20 ft.; skid track, 4 ft.; overall length, 27 ft.
Angles.-Incidence, 9 degrees; dihedral, 1 in 26.
Materials.-Timber, ash throughout; fabric, Pegamoid.
Engine.-25-h.p. Anzani.
Propeller.-Howard Wright; diameter, 6 ft.; pitch, 2 ft.; material, Kauri pine.
Weight.-Machine, 280 lbs.; engine, 150 lbs.; driver, oil, petrol and water, 200 lbs.; total flying weight, 630 lbs.; loading (all weight supported sq. ft. on main planes), 3.9 lbs. per sq. ft.
Speed of Flight.-35 m.p.h.
System of Control.- Warping of planes, rudder and elevator.
Price.- L490.

   MONOPLANE constucted by Howard Wright for the Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate, and exhibited by their agents, the Aeroplane Supply Co. The machine is of modified Bleriot design, and is characterised by the use of a Santos-Dumont type tail. It has an "A" chassis frame and a combination of wheels and skis for the support of the machine.
   The engine is carried on a tubular steel framework forming an extension of the main frame, which is made of timber.