Avro Cadet
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| Cadet | |
|---|---|
 RAAF Avro Cadets |
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| Type | Trainer |
| Manufacturer | AVRO |
| Maiden flight | October 1931 |
| Introduced | 1932 |
| Produced | 1932 - 1939 |
| Developed from | Avro Tutor |
| Variants | Avro 638 Club Cadet |
The Avro Cadet was a single engined British biplane trainer designed and built by Avro in the 1930s as a smaller development of the Avro Tutor for civil use.
Contents |
[edit] Design and development
The Avro 631 Cadet was developed in 1931 as a smaller, more economical, derivative of the Avro Tutor military trainer, for flying club or personal use. The first prototype, G-ABRS flew in October 1931 [1]. It was publicly unveiled at the opening of Skegness airfield in May 1914, although by this time, the first orders for the type, for the Irish Army Air Corps, had already been placed and the order (for six Cadets) delivered.
The Avro 631 Cadet was replaced in production in September 1934 [2] by the improved Avro 643 Cadet, which had a revised rear fuselage with a raised rear seat, retaining the 135 hp Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major 1 engine of the Avro 631. In turn this formed the basis for the more powerful Avro 643 Cadet Mk II, entering production in 1935, This was built in the largest numbers, including 34 built for the Royal Australian Air Force [1].
[edit] Operational history
The Cadet, while smaller and more economical than the Tutor, was still more expensive to run than competing two seat light aircraft, and so was mainly used as a trainer for flying schools or the military. By far the largest civil user was Air Service Training Ltd, which operated 17 Avro 631s at Hamble, together with a further four operated by its Hong Kong subsidiary, the Far East Aviation Co. Air Service Training also operated 23 Cadet Mk IIs, with both these and the earlier Cadets remaining in service with Reserve Training Schools run by Air Service Training until they were impressed as ATC instructional airframes in 1941[1].
The other major operator was the RAAF, which acquired 34 Cadet Mk IIs, delivered between November 1935 and February 1939[1]. These remained in service until 1946, when the surviving 16 were sold for civil use [2]. Two of these were re-engined in 1963 with 220 hp Jacobs R-755 engines for use as crop sprayers.
[edit] Variants
- Avro 631 Cadet
- Initial version, powered by Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major I engine, 35 built.
- Avro 643 Cadet
- Raised rear seat, 8 built.
- Avro 643 Cadet Mk II
- Powered by 150 hp Genet Major 1A, 62 built.
[edit] Operators
[edit] Civil operators
- Air Service Training Ltd
[edit] Military operators
- Royal Australian Air Force operated 34 Avro 643 Cadet II.
- Irish Air Corps operated 7 Avro 631 Cadets.
- China had 5 Avro 631 deployed at Liuzhou Aviation School during the Second Sino-Japanese War, all of which were lost due to Japanese bombing in 1939.
[edit] Specifications (Avro 643 Cadet Mk II)
[edit] Design
The Cadet was fundamentally a smaller version of the Tutor (i.e. a single bay biplane with a welded steel tube structure). It retained the good handling of the Tutor, but unlike most private aircraft of the time, did not have folding wings.
Data from Avro Aircraft since 1908 [1]
General characteristics
- Crew: Two
- Length: 24 ft 9 in (7.55 m)
- Wingspan: 30 ft 2 in (9.20 m)
- Height: 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m)
- Wing area: 262 ft² (24.3 m²)
- Empty weight: 1,286 lb (585 kg)
- Loaded weight: 2,000 lb (909 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major 1A seven cylinder radial, 150 hp (112 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 101 knots (116 mph, 187 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 87 knots (100 mph, 161 km/h)
- Range: 283 nm (325 mi, 523 km)
- Service ceiling 12,000 ft (3,660 m)
- Rate of climb: 700 ft/min (3.6 m/s)
- Wing loading: 7.63 lb/ft² (37.4 kg/m²)
- Power/mass: 0.075 hp/lb (0.12 kW/kg)
[edit] See also
Related development
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Jackson, A J (1990). Avro Aircraft since 1908, 2nd edition, London: Putnam Aeronautical Books. ISBN 0-85177-834-8.
- ^ a b Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 1. London: Putnam. ISBN 0 370 10006 9.
[edit] External links
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