Armstrong Whitworth Apollo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| AW.55 Apollo | |
|---|---|
| Type | Four-engined turboprop airliner |
| Manufacturer | Armstrong Whitworth |
| Maiden flight | 1949 |
| Introduced | 1952 |
| Retired | 1957 |
| Primary users | Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment Empire Test Pilot's School |
| Number built | 2 |
The Armstrong Whitworth AW.55 Apollo was a 1940s British airliner built by Armstrong Whitworth at Baginton. The aircraft was in competition with the Vickers Viscount but beset with engine problems only two were built.
[edit] Development
The requirement resulted from the Brabazon Committee's Type II design, calling for a small-sized medium-range pressurized aircraft to fly its less-travelled routes which became Air Ministry Specification C.16/46 for an aircraft able to carry 24-30 passengers over 1,000 miles (1,609km) at a cruising speed of 300mph.
The resulting design was the AW.55 Apollo, a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a tricycle retractable landing gear. It had a conventional tail unit with a mid-placed cantilever horizontal tailplane. It had a pressurised fuselage with seating for 26 to 31 passengers. It was designed to use the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba which was expected to produce 1,270 shp for the production aircraft. When the prototype Apollo was ready to fly the engine could only produce 800shp. Two prototypes and a static test fuselage were ordered by the Ministry of Supply and construction started in 1948. The prototype (serial VX220) first flew from Baginton on 10 April 1949. The aircraft was unstable and underpowered and after just nine hours of test flying it was grounded to try and solve some of the problems. Test flying resumed in August 1949 but the aircraft had further engine problems. Changes were made to the design of the tail unit including fitting a dorsal fin and increasing the fin area to improve the flying qualities. In October 1950 a limited category Certificate of Airworthiness was granted to allow the aircraft to carry non-fare paying passengers. One trial flight between Baginton and Paris was carried out in 12 March 1951 . Further engine problems stopped the trial and test flights. The company started a selling campaign to European airlines but the problems with performance and continual engine difficulties it was decided to abandon development of the aircraft in June 1952. The competing Brabazon IIB design the Vickers Viscount powered by the Rolls-Royce Dart became a best-selling turboprop in the 1950s and 60s.
[edit] Operational history
Although the development program was cancelled the two prototypes had been paid for by the Ministry of Supply and the prototype aircraft entered service at the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down in September 1952. The second aircraft followed in September 1953 and was later used by the Empire Test Pilot's School. The prototype was broken up in 1955 and the second aircraft was passed to the Structures Department at RAE Farnborough. The aircraft fuselage was used at Farnborough for water tank pressure testing until it was scraped in the 1970s.
[edit] Operators
[edit] Specifications
Data from British Civil Aircraft since 1919[1], British Aircraft Directory[2]
General characteristics
- Crew: 3
- Capacity: 26 - 31 passengers
- Payload: 7,500 lb (3,402 kg)
- Length: 71 ft 6 in (21.79 m)
- Wingspan: 92 ft (28 m)
- Height: 26 ft (8.0 m)
- Wing area: 986 ft² (91.6 m²)
- Empty weight: 30,800 lb (13,600 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 45,000 - 47,000 lb (20,400 kg)
- Powerplant: 4× Armstrong Siddeley Mamba AS.1[3] axial flow turboprop, 1,010 shp (750 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 330 mph
- Cruise speed: 276 mph [4] (444 km/h)
- Range: 940 miles (1,500 km)
- Service ceiling 28,000 ft (8,500 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,500 ft/min at sea level (7.6 m/s)
[edit] See also
Comparable aircraft Airspeed Ambassador
Vickers Viscount
[edit] References
- ^ A.J. Jackson, British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 1, 1974, Putnam, London, ISBN 0 370 10006 9, pp 285
- ^ Apollo
- ^ From July 1951, Mk 504
- ^ Armstrong Whitworth A.W.55 Apollo - medium-range transport
- A.J. Jackson, British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 1, 1974, Putnam, London, ISBN 0 370 10006 9, pp 285
- King, Derek. The Armstrong Whitworth Apollo. Air-Britain Aviation World Vol 56 No. 4 Winter 2004, pp 164-165.ISSN 1742-996X
[edit] External links
http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=125 http://www.aviastar.org/air/england/arm_apollo.php
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
