Avro Type 557 Ava
For a description of the format and data included in Production Tables, see here.
Contents
Type Description
- Type 557 Ava Mk.I
- Four seat, coastal defence torpedo biplane, derived from the single engined Type 556 project, both designed to Specification DofR Type 9 (later Air Ministry Specification 16/22). A three-bay biplane of of mixed wood and metal construction, the fuselage being of steel and the wings of wood, with the un-cowled engines between the wings, it had a biplane tail, initially fitted with triple rudders, of which the centre rudder was soon removed. The fuselage accommodated two pilots in an open cockpit, with nose and dorsal gun positions and a retractable ventral "dustbin" gun position that could be manned by the navigator/bomb aimer, who otherwise occupied a large enclosed cabin. The 2,000 lb torpedo or equivalent bomb load were carried on external racks under the fuselage. Two 650 h.p. Rolls-Royce Condor III powerplants. A modified version of the Ava was proposed to meet Specification B19/27 for a heavy bomber, but was unsuccessful and no further aircraft were built.
- Type 557 Ava Mk.II
- The second prototype was of all-metal construction and featured square wingtips, rather than the rounded tips if the Mk.I, but was otherwise similar to the first prototype.
| Type 557 Ava Mk.I Specification | |||||||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW | Cruise Speed | Maximum Speed | Range | Service Ceiling |
| 96 ft 10 in | 61 ft 9 in | 19 ft 8 in | 2163 sq ft | 12760 lb | 19920 lb | 115 mph/ 100 kn | |||
| 29.51 m | 18.82 m | 5.99 m | 200.95 m2 | 5788 kg | 9036 kg | 185 km/h | |||
Production Details
| Serial Range | C/n | Type | Batch Qty |
Conv. | Canc'd | Notes |
| 2 aircraft ordered from A.V. Roe & Co. Ltd., Newton Heath, Manchester, to contract 356442/22. Built at Manchester but erected at Hamble. | ||||||
| N171 | Mk.I | 1 | First flew in mid-1924. | |||
| N172 | Mk.II | 1 | First flew on 22 April 1927. | |||
| Total Production | 2 | |||||
Production Summary
All Aircraft By Type
| Type | Built New | Conv | Canc'd | Total |
| Type 557 Ava Mk.I | 1 | 1 | ||
| Type 557 Ava Mk.II | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2 | (0) | 0 |
Production References
- Avro Aircraft Since 1908, A.J. Jackson (Putnam, 1965)
Page Revision History
Revised at Version 2.0.0- Moved from Low Production to a new page.
- Improved Type Description and Added Specification details.