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Страна: Великобритания

Год: 1919

Единственный экземпляр

A.Jackson Avro Aircraft since 1908 (Putnam)

Avro 539

  Rushed through the Hamble works in time for the 1919 Schneider Trophy Race, the Avro 539 single-seat twin-float seaplane was the smallest biplane that could be designed round the 240 hp Siddeley Puma engine. Its wooden structure was typically Avro but there was little external resemblance to any of the company’s previous aeroplanes. The fuselage was a rectangular-section box-girder with deep curved fairings above and below to conform to the lines of the engine cowlings. These were a close fit with the cylinder heads projecting through them and cooling was by nose radiator.
  Single-bay mainplanes with rounded tips were rigged with dihedral on the lower, shorter plane only. The tailplane was of generous area and an unbalanced rudder was hinged to a considerable dorsal fin. Four streamlined steel tubes carried two 14 ft single-step wooden floats at a track of 7 ft but there were no wingtip or tail floats. Piloted by Capt H. A. Hamersley, the Avro 539 first flew from Hamble slipway on August 29, 1919, but apart from the national G outlined in white on the rudder, no marks were carried despite the allocation of registration G-EALG eight days before. When taking off for eliminating trials at Cowes on September 3, a float was damaged by floating debris and a separate trial was arranged for September 8. This allowed time not only for repairs but for the fitment of a horn-balanced rudder, a change of fin shape and the display of full registration marks under the revised designation Avro 539A. The Schneider contest took place at Bournemouth on September 10, with the Avro 539A acting as reserve British machine to the Sopwith Schneider and the Supermarine Sea Lion I. These were to compete with French and Italian entries but the race was declared void because of fog.
  Deprived of an opportunity of showing its paces, the aircraft returned to Hamble where it was eventually converted into a landplane for the Aerial Derby at Hendon on July 24, 1920. A rigid V undercarriage was located well forward as on early Avro Babies, the fin area was reduced, and a small streamlined headrest fitted. Still known as the Avro 539A, G-EALG was flown in the race by Capt D. G. Westgarth-Heslam who forced landed drenched in fuel at Abridge, Essex.
  The unlucky racer then returned to Hamble for a more extensive reconstruction to permit the installation of a 450 hp Napier Lion driving a 10 ft diameter Avro airscrew. By removing the frontal radiator it was possible to rebuild the nose with a downward slope to improve both streamlining and forward view. The three banks of cylinders projected from smoothly tapering cowlings which terminated in a conical airscrew boss, the engine being cooled by small radiator units on each side of the fuselage ahead of the cockpit. With an engine almost twice the power and weight of the original, it was necessary to shorten the nose and to strengthen the fuselage by planking it with plywood. A more robust undercarriage with rubber-in-compression shock absorbers was also necessary.
  In this form the machine was re-registered G-EAXM under the designation Avro 539B and first flew at Hamble piloted by D. G. Westgarth-Heslam on July 13, three days before the 1921 Aerial Derby Race in which it was entered. At the end of this, its only flight, he made a perfect landing too far up the aerodrome and overshot into a railway cutting leading to the old RAF Assembly Park. The 539B was completely wrecked and the pilot was seriously injured.
  
SPECIFICATION AND DATA
Manufacturers:
A. V. Roe and Co Ltd, Hamble Aerodrome, near Southampton, Hants.
Powerplants:
(Avro 539) One 240 hp Siddeley Puma
(Avro 539A) One 240 hp Siddeley Puma
(Avro 539B) One 450 hp Napier Lion
Dimensions:
Span (upper) 25 ft 6 in (lower) 24 ft 6 in
Length (Puma) 21 ft 4 in
Height (Puma) 9 ft 9 in (Lion) 8 ft 6 in
Wing area 195 sq ft
Weights:
(Avro 539) Tare weight 1,670 lb
All-up weight 2,119 lb

Production:
One aircraft only - Avro 539 G-EALG, c/n 539/1, first flown 29.8.19; rebuilt 1920 as Avro 539A G-EALG, c/n 539A/1; rebuilt 1921 as Avro 539B G-EAXM, c/n 539B/1, damaged beyond repair at Hamble 13.7.21

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Описание:

  • A.Jackson Avro Aircraft since 1908 (Putnam)
  • A.Jackson British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.1 (Putnam)
  • Журнал Flight