Avro 566 Avenger

Biplane Fighter Prototype Aircraft [ 1926 ]

The Avro 566 Avenger was a private venture attempt to produce a high-performance biplane fighter for service with the Royal Air Force - only a prototype was completed.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 05/22/2018 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

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Developed along the lines of a private venture fighter for possible sale to the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Avro 566 "Avenger" promised excellent performance through a powerful engine and exceptional streamlining of its shape. The type existed in a biplane form and recorded a first-flight on June 26th, 1926. Its design was attributed to Roy Chadwick, an aeronautical engineer who lent his talents to the creation of the Avro Manchester and Avro Lancaster heavy bombers of World War 2 fame and the Avro Vulcan jet-powered bomber of Cold War fame.

The Avenger exhibited an overall length of 7.7 meters, a wingspan of 9.75 meters, and a height of 3 meters. It sat a single crewman in an open-air cockpit under and behind the upper wing assembly. The mainplanes were of unequal span - the upper section being wider than the lower - and used N-type struts creating a single-bay wing arrangement. The wheeled undercarriage was fixed during flight and the overall design approach of the aircraft was very consistent with the post-World War 1 period (known as the "Interwar period"). Construction was largely of wood with fabric skinning and power to the aircraft was through a Napier Lion VIII engine of 525 horsepower driving a two-bladed propeller at the nose. No armament was fitted to the prototype though it can be assumed that 2 x 0.303 machine guns would have been installed, synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades.

As completed, the Avenger held a maximum speed of 180 miles per hour and could cruise at 130 miles per hour.

Despite its promise, the Avenger failed to sell itself to RAF authorities (mainly due to the unpopular Lion engine in play) so it was decided to convert the high performance platform to an aerial racer. The wing mainplanes were revised to become equal-span assemblies and I-type struts were fitted for support. Ailerons were added to both upper and lower wing structures. The original engine installation was now superseded by the Napier Lion IX series engine of 553 horsepower and the changes were enough to warrant the new designation of Avro 567 "Avenger II".

Beyond this conversion, the aircraft was destined to never become anything greater - the single example was eventually broken up in 1931 and used as an engineering training tool.©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1926

Origin

United Kingdom

Status

CANCELLED
Development Ended.

Crew

1

Production

1
UNITS

A.V. Roe (Avro) - United Kingdom

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

United Kingdom (cancelled)

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Air-to-Air Combat, Fighter
General ability to actively engage other aircraft of similar form and function, typically through guns, missiles, and/or aerial rockets.

✓ X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.

Length

25.5 ft
(7.77 m)

Width/Span

32.0 ft
(9.75 m)

Height

10.2 ft
(3.12 m)

Empty Wgt

2,370 lb
(1,075 kg)

MTOW

3,219 lb
(1,460 kg)

Wgt Diff

+849 lb
(+385 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Avro 566 Avenger production variant)

Installed: Avenger I: 1 x Napier Lion VIII engine developing 525 horsepower and driving two-bladed propeller at the nose.

Max Speed

180 mph
(290 kph | 157 kts)

Ceiling

21,982 ft
(6,700 m | 4 mi)

Rate-of-Climb

2,100 ft/min
(640 m/min)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Avro 566 Avenger production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

None Fitted. Assumed armament of 2 x 0.303 machine guns synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft medium machine gun

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

566 Avenger ("Avenger I") - Original prototype design; unequal-span wing mainplanes; N-type struts; Napier Lion VIII engine.

567 Avenger II - Revised prototype as aerial racer; equal-span wing mainplanes; I-type struts; Napier Lion IX engine.

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