Britain - 1912 Avro Type F

The First Enclosed Cockpit

Even before the war the idea of an enclosed cockpit was seen as an advantage. The cold of high altitudes made flying uncomfortable. Add the spray of oil off early engines and exhaust fumes did nothing to make flight a pleasant experience. Although most fighters would use open cockpits, the research on shielding the pilot from the environment would lead to later advances.

Avro Type F - 1912

The Avro Type F was an early single seat British aircraft from Avro and the first aircraft in the world to feature a completely enclosed cabin.

It was a wire-braced mid-wing monoplane of conventional configuration with a tailskid undercarriage. The fuselage itself was teardrop-shaped with flat sides and "glazed" with celluloid windows around the cabin. Two circular windows at the pilot's head level could be opened for the pilot's head to protrude when flying under poor visibility. Ingress and egress was via a trapdoor in the fuselage top. The cabin was quite cramped - at its widest point only 2 ft (60 cm) across.

The Type F made a few test flights in mid 1912 until damaged beyond repair in a hard landing on 13 September after which it was not repaired. Its Viale 35 hp engine is on display at the Science Museum in London.

References

1. Avro Type F. (2010, May 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:17, December 14, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Avro_Type_F&oldid=360032450
2. Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp. 91.
3. World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 889 Sheet 92-93.

Britain - 1912 Avro Type E & 500

Early Successes in Design

The evolution of AVRO aircraft continued during 1912. The first difference we note was an enclosed fuselage which is becoming more recognizable as what we would we have come to believe an aircraft should look like. The ability to carry payloads for longer periods of flight became a concern which had to be addressed to meet specifications requested by eager military planners. Military aviation was soon to be possible.

Avro Type E - 1912

Avro 500 - 1912

The Avro Type E, Type 500, and Type 502 made up a family of early British military aircraft, regarded by Alliott Verdon Roe as his firm's first truly successful design.

The Type E biplane was designed in response to a War Office specification for a two-seat aircraft capable (amongst other things) of carrying a 350 lb (160 kg) payload with a total endurance of 4.5 hours. The Avro submission was based on the Avro Duigan design and was originally named "Military Biplane 1". It was a two-bay biplane with equal-span, unstaggered wings, and a boxy, rectangular-section fuselage. Lateral control was by wing warping.

During initial trials, it soon became apparent that while top speed and rate-of-climb were below the War Office specification, the aircraft excelled in every other way. The second prototype, however, first flew on 3 May 1912 and sufficiently impressed the War Office for them to buy the prototype and place an order for two more examples, which Roe now renamed the 500. The type proved an immediate success, and orders for another four machines plus five single-seat derivatives (designated 502 by Avro) soon followed. Other examples produced included six for the British Admiralty's Air Department, one presented to the government of Portugal (paid for by public subscription), one kept by Avro as a company demonstrator, and one bought by a private individual, J. Laurence Hall (commandeered by the War Office at the outbreak of World War I). The first prototype was destroyed in a crash on 29 June 1913 that killed its student pilot.

Avro 500s were flown by the British armed forces during the first years of the war, mostly as trainers. In service, most were fitted with ailerons and a revised rudder.

References

1. Avro 500. (2010, May 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:27, December 9, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Avro_500&oldid=360032279
2. Taylor, Michael J. H. Jane''s Encyclopedia of Aviation. (1989). London: Studio Editions. pp. 91.
3. World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 889 Sheet 92.