AVRO EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT

Another programme of experimental work at Hamble was the building of the Avro 558 and 560. These small light aircraft were designed to enter the "Daily Mail" single-seat light aeroplane competitions at Lympne, Kent in October1923.

The former was a biplane of 30 ft span and the latter a monoplane of 36 ft span and both were powered by motorcycle engines. Despite the contest proving at economical flying was possible (the Avro 560 flew 1,000 miles at 63 mpg ) none of the aircraft went into production.

The following year the Air Ministry hosted a competition fortwo-seat light aircraft at the same location. For this event Avro entered the AVIS biplane with little success, followed by entries in the 1925 and 1926 trials, but for the latter they entered a new design, the Avro 581 Avian.

This machine was more substantial despite its light structural weight, with a wingspan of 32 ft and powered by an Armstrong-Siddeley Genet engine of 70 hp making it more suitable for the expanding Flying Club movement.

(Monochrome Photograph showing - 'Bert' Hinkler with the Avro 560 at the Lympne Trials in 1923.)

The performance during the trials was promising, so Avro continued to improve the design, including fitting an ADC Cirrus II engine of 85 hp. By this time the De Havilland Company had already built a similar machine, the DH 60Moth which made its initial flight in February 1925. Ironically, one of the first production Moths was delivered in July to the Lancashire Aero Club here at WOODFORD. The Club had been formed at Alexandra Park, and when this closed Avro invited them to take up residence here. By the end of the year around 20 Moths had been delivered so Avro were clearly lagging behind, but persevered with the development, and such was the extent of the changes that when the aircraft went into production in April 1927 it was given a new designation Avro 594 AVIAN. With production commencing at Newton Heath, the dismantled aircraft was taken by road to WOODFORD for assembly and flight testing. The design received wide publicity in August when Avro's Test Pilot H.J. (Bert) Hinkler flew the prototype, with an extra fuel tank in the front cockpit, from London (Croydon) to Riga in Latvia non-stop. This was the longest non-stop flight made by a light aircraft at that time.

(Monochrome Photograph showing - The Avro 581 Avian and Avis at the Lympne Trials in October 1926.)