A.Jackson Avro Aircraft since 1908 (Putnam)
The Burga Monoplane
In 1912 A. V. Roe and Company built a shoulder-wing monoplane to the designs of Lt. Burga of the Peruvian Navy, who wished to try out some highly original ideas on aircraft control. The machine was constructed at Brownsfield Mills at the same time as the Avro Type E prototype and used the same tail and undercarriage, but the fuselage was much slimmer and the engine a 50 h.p. Gnome rotary. It is probable that the Burga monoplane was, in fact, the Avro 502 of which no details survive except that it was a single seat monoplane.
Rectangular monoplane wings were wire braced to strong points on the undercarriage and to a pylon built above the fuselage. There was no wing warping, lateral control being obtained by two 'rudders', one above and one below the fuselage, working in opposite directions. The design made provisions for wings of varying camber which fitted at varying angles of incidence to give the machine any desired performance.
Lt. Burga took a shed at Shoreham where the machine was test flown on November 20, 1912 by H. R. Simms. The mainplanes fitted were those best suited for maximum speed and the pilot reported that it was certainly fast and had a good rate of climb. Further taxying trials were made by H. S. Powell in the following month, and in January 1913 the Burga monoplane returned to the Avro works at Manchester for modification.
Manufacturers: A. V. Roc and Company, Brownsfield Mills, Great Ancoats Street, Manchester; and Shoreham Aerodrome, Sussex
Power Plant: One 50 h.p. Gnome
Dimensions: Length 29 ft. 0 in.
Production: One aircraft only, first flown at Shoreham 20.11.12
M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
AVRO-BURGA monoplane
While the Type E prototype was being built at Manchester, a monoplane to the design of Lt. Burga of the Peruvian Navy was in hand, in which a unique system of lateral control by rudders, above and below the fuselage, was featured. These operated in opposed directions and served instead of ailerons or wing warping. Wings of alternative sections and set at various angles of incidence could be fitted. The narrow fuselage, tail unit and undercarriage owed much to the Avro Type E.
Construction took place throughout 1912 and first flight at Shoreham on 12 November 1912, piloted by H.R. Simms. After severe damage in January 1913 the monoplane was returned to Manchester but was not repaired.
Power: 50hp Gnome seven-cylinder air-cooled rotary.
Data Length 29ft
P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)
Burga Monoplane
A Peruvian naval officer, Lt. R. Burga, designed this two-seat tractor monoplane, which was built during 1912 by A. V. Roe and Co. The machine incorporated several unusual features, including wings with variable camber and a unique form of lateral control, consisting of two additional rudders mounted one above and one below the fore-fuselage. The engine was a 50 h.p. Gnome, the sole aircraft built being tested at Shoreham in November, 1912.
Журнал Flight
Flight, November 23, 1912.
AIR EDDIES.
Quite an interesting machine has made its appearance at the Shoreham aerodrome. It is a monoplane which has been built to the designs of Lieut. R. Burga of the Peruvian Navy by Messrs. A. V. Roe and Co., whose flying school, it will be remembered, took up its quarters there some time since. From the photograph of the machine we are able to reproduce this week, it will be noticed that it is novel in having two vertical rudders, one above and the other below the fuselage, just forward of the pilot's cockpit. It is to these rudders that the maintenance of the craft's lateral stability has been entrusted, for no provisions have been made so that the pilot can control this by wing warping. The wings themselves are constructed on a principle that enables them to vary their camber according to the speed at which it is desired the machine should fly. With Lieut. Burga's permission we hope to be able to review this machine in a future issue.
It is of unusual interest to hear that Mr. H. Barber, whose opinions on matters relating to aviation are so highly valued, left suddenly for Constantinople a week ago yesterday.
Flight, November 30, 1912.
AIR EDDIES.
Since last week the new Burga monoplane at Shoreham has been undergoing its preliminary tests. It has proved very fast, and from the extremely short run that it takes before leaving the ground, it seems that the specially shaped wings are, in practical test, giving the efficiency that they exhibited when tested in miniature in the laboratory. The peculiar rudders above and below the fuselage that our last week's photograph showed are only a temporary measure for obtaining stability, for a device will be embodied in the design whereby stability will be controlled automatically
