Avro 581, 594, 605, 616 and 625 Avian

For a description of the format and data included in Production Tables, see here.

Contents

Type Description

• Type 581 Avian
• Two seat light touring aircraft designed to compete in the 1926 Lympne Light Aircraft Trials. The wooden fuselage was based on that of the Avro 576 (Cierva C.9) autogyro, being a slim, plywood covered, box structure with curved rear decking. with domed top, built up of spruce longerons and struts, to which was glued and screwed plywood, the latter covered with fabric, glued on and doped. The single bay folding wings were of the simplest possible concept, with thick section mainplanes and square cut tips. The main spars were of spruce, routed to an 'I' section, with spruce and plywood ribs and tubular steel drag struts, the whole being fabric covered with. The centre section, containing the fuel tank, was mounted on four tall wooden struts and gave an exaggerated mainplane gap of 5ft 3in. Ailerons were only fitted to the lower wings. The undercarriage had a steel cross axle and front legs sprung by rubber blocks in streamlined fairings. The tailplane was wood framed and covered with fabric; all surfaces unbalanced. The tailplane was ground adjustable only. There was an elongated 'comma' type rudder with no fin. One 70 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Genet powerplant.

Type 581 Avian Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
32 ft	24 ft 6 in	8 ft 3 in	294 sq ft	750 lb	1580 lb	62 mph/ 54 kn	70 mph/ 61 kn	320 mi
9.75 m	7.47 m	2.51 m	27.31 m2	340 kg	717 kg	100 km/h	113 km/h	515 km

• Type 581A Avian
• Modified first prototype, with reduced span, fixed triangular fin and larger, unbalanced, rudder. One 85 h.p. A.D.C. Cirrus II powerplant.

• Type 581E Avian
• Single seat modified Avro 581A for long distance flights, with wings of R.A.F.28 section from the Type 594C, fuel tank replacing the front cockpit and, initially, a wide track, divided undercarriage as introduced on the Type 594 Avian II, though this was later replaced with a more rugged type.

• Type 594 Avian I
• Pre-production aircraft, originally designated Type 581B; strengthened version of Type 581A with rounded wing tips. One 85 h.p. A.D.C. Cirrus II powerplant.

• Type 594 Avian II
• Initial production version; structurally as the Type 594 Avian I, but featuring the wide track, divided undercarriage of patented design and invented by Bert Hinkler, initially used on the the Type 581E. In appearance a normal split-axle type of very wide track (6 ft. 3 in.) the shock-absorbing strut was attached to the front spar of the bottom main plane and the radius strut to the rear spar, the attachment of these struts being so arranged that, when the wings are folded, the point of attachment of each radius strut moves backwards, carrying the wheels back a distance of about 1 ft. As a result, the loading on the tail skid remained constant, and it was possible to lift the tail with the wings in the folded position and handle the machine on the ground without difficulty. The movement of the wheels backward also made the nose lower, and when the quickly detachable cowling was removed, resulted in easy accessibility of the power unit and accessories, ensuring every part of the engine can be reached from the ground without difficulty. The wings could be folded or spread in one minute by one person. Two telescopic jury struts are inserted between the planes on each side before folding . When not in use, these struts fold up beneath the top planes. Complete dual controls were fitted. The control column in the front cockpit could be removed and the rudder bar disconnected and used as a footrest for the passenger, and behind the pilot's seat was a large compartment for luggage. A fireproof bulkhead separated the power unit from the front cockpit . One 85 h.p. A.D.C. Cirrus II powerplant with a gravity fed fuel system, the oil tank being contained in the engine sump..

• Type 594A Avian II
• Experimental version of the Type 594 Avian II fitted with a 100 h.p. Avro Alpha powerplant.

• Type 594B Avian II ⁽⁸⁾
• Type 594 Avian II with 80 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Genet II powerplant.

• Type 594C Avian II
• One Type 594A converted with experimental wings of R.A.F.28 section with rounded tips.

• Type 594 Avian III
• As Type 594 Avian II with modified powerplant mount and tubular steel interplane struts. One 85 h.p. A.D.C. Cirrus II powerplant.

Type 594 Avian III Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
28 ft	24 ft 3 in	8 ft 6 in	245 sq ft	935 lb	1435 lb	87 mph/ 76 kn	102 mph/ 89 kn	400 mi	15000 ft
8.53 m	7.39 m	2.59 m	22.76 m2	424 kg	651 kg	140 km/h	164 km/h	644 km	4572 m

• Type 594B Avian III ⁽⁸⁾
• Avian III fitted with 80 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Genet II powerplant.

• Type 594 Avian IIIA
• Avian III fitted with 90 h.p. A.D.C. Cirrus III powerplant.

• Type 594 Avian IV
• As Type 594 Avian III with modified undercarriage, with the radius rods repositioned forward of the main legs and attached to a common anchorage under the mid point of the engine bulkhead. New horn balanced ailerons were also fitted. One 95 h.p. A.D.C. Cirrus III, 105 h.p. Cirrus Hermes I or 115h.p. Cirrus Hermes II powerplant.

• Type 594B Avian IV
• Avian IV fitted with 80 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Genet II powerplant.

• Type 605 Avian III
  Seaplane
• Type 594 Avian III converted into floatplanes, with the land undercarriage replaced by twin, long, single-step duralumin floats, attached to the fuselage by steel -tube struts.

• Type 605 Avian IIIA
  eaplane
• Type 594 Avian IIIA converted into floatplane.

• Type 616 Avian IVM
• As Type 594 Avian IV with a steel tube fuselage, consisting of welded circular-section longerons and struts, with diagonal strut bracing in the side panels and wire bracing top and bottom. The sides were then fabric covered over wooden formers, the top featuring a curved plywood decking. One 105 h.p. Cirrus Hermes I or 115h.p. Cirrus Hermes II powerplant.

Type 616 Avian IVM Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
28 ft	24 ft	8 ft 6 in	245 sq ft	1000 lb	1600 lb	90 mph/ 78 kn	100 mph/ 87 kn	360 mi	15000 ft
8.53 m	7.32 m	2.59 m	22.76 m2	454 kg	726 kg	145 km/h	161 km/h	579 km	4572 m

• Type 616B Avian IVM ⁽⁸⁾
• Avian IVM fitted with 100 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major powerplant.

• Type 616 Sports Avian
• Type 616 Avian IVM modified for racing with a straight axle undercarriage, cut-away top decking and racing windscreens. One 105 h.p. Cirrus Hermes I or 120 h.p. de Havilland Gipsy II powerplant.

• Type 616 Avian IVA
• Single seat long range version of the Type 616 Sports Avian for Charles Kingsford Smith, named "Southern Cross Junior" with an additional 91 gallon fuel tank in a specially strengthened fuselage and revised, longer span wings. One 120 h.p. de Havilland Gipsy II powerplant.

• Type 616 Avian V
• Single seat long range version of the Avian IVM for Charles Kingsford Smith, named "Southern Cross Minor". One 120 h.p. de Havilland Gipsy II powerplant.

• Type 625 Avian
  Monoplane
• Wire braced, low wing, single seat racing monoplane development of the Type 616 Sports Avian, equiped with a wide track 'N'-type undercarriage. One 105 h.p. Cirrus Hermes I powerplant.

• Type 625B Avian
  Monoplane ⁽⁸⁾
• Type 625 Avian Monoplane fitted with 100 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major powerplant.

Type 625B Avian Monoplane Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
30 ft	24 ft 3 in	8 ft 6 in	245 sq ft	942 lb	1351 lb	110 mph/ 96 kn	125 mph/ 109 kn
9.14 m	7.39 m	2.59 m	22.76 m2	427 kg	613 kg	177 km/h	201 km/h

• Alpha 25
• See note 1.

• Avian Special
• Avian III modified May 1930 by Air Associates Inc. in the USA with a 100 h.p. Wright Gipsy powerplant.

Production Tables Index

Avian, All Types, UK Built
Avian, All Types, US Built
Avian, All Types, Assembled in Canada
Avian, All Types, Delivered as Military
Conversions from Other Types

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Foreign Derivatives

Notes

1. In 1935, a team of Air Service Training engineers rebuilt Avro 612 (Cirva C.17 Mk.II) G-AAGJ to Avian II standard under the name Alpha 25.
2. Assembled by the Ottawa Car Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Ottawa, from UK supplied complete airframes. There appears to be confusion of c/ns between aircraft assembled by the Ottawa Car Manufacturing Co. Ltd., with those c/ns as assigned by A.V. Roe. The most likely, though speculative, reason for this comes from Terry Judge [10]. "I am willing to speculate ... about how all these numbers hang together. All I have is one assumption (and) one fact.
   - the assumption is that the c/ns were issued in chronological order. it also seems to be accepted that Canada initially received 30 aircraft (282/302 and 307/315). According to Jackson [1] the next set of 10 aircraft sent to Canada were 425/434 (produced c. 12.29/1.30). At this point (theoretically) there was a great deal of misunderstanding between Avro and Ottawa Car. Ottawa Car were led to believe (or decided to believe) that they had been sent c/ns 316/325. Avro appear to have understood that the latest aircraft they had sent were assigned to RCAF 92/101. I believe that Canadian "316/325" were one and the same as Avro 425/434. As the Canadian market seemed to be quite buoyant Avro sent a further ten aircraft, 443/452 (produced c. 6.30). Unfortunately, by this time, the Depression was making its mark on the economy, and the market dried up. In March 1931 Ottawa Car sent a letter to the DND saying they had 12 Avians in stock on which they were prepared to make drastic price reductions; these were Genet Major landplanes. (This is my one fact.). These 12 aircraft can be accounted for as follows;
   CF-AIF (sold in 1932) and CF-AIE (sold in 1933)....
   The final ten (443/452) remained in storage until early 1936 when they were bought for the flying clubs as CF-CEV/CF-CFC and CF-CFH/CF-CFI. They were delivered quoting their Avro fuselage frame numbers (to allow the DND to identify them as containing Canadian-built components (see Molson [13]). These aircraft are usually quoted as 65249/65259 (11 aircraft) with 65253 as untraced. I submit that 65253 was never sent to Canada and that the remaining 10 fuselage numbers were for c/ns 443/452."
3. Originally the Whittlesey Manufacturing Co., importers of Avian IIIs to the USA. Tooled up for the production of 2000 aircraft a year, but went bankrupt after only about 10 machines were built.
4. Tie up between Serial and c/n cannot be confirmed.
5. Starting from the first Avian III, the c/n prefix changed from R3/AV/ to R3/CN/. The c/n's as shown are those as given in the in the references, and, as can be seen, some were recorded with the R3/CN/ prefix, some without. It seems that the use of the prefix died out entirely by the early 1930s.
6. C/n's for the 20 SAAF Avian IVMs were 334-353. Six aircraft were crashed or damaged beyond repair while in service: 506-508, 515, 516 and 522. The remaining 14 aircraft, c/n's 334, 335, 339-344, 347-351 and 353, were converted for civilian use as ZS-AGK - ZS-AGU, but correlation between c/n and registration is unknown. ZS-AGK - 'AGN, 'AGS were impressed as SAAF 2029 - 2033 in March 1940.
7. This aircraft is somewhat enigmatic: Not only is it a Mk.IV produced in 1933, four years after the previous Mk.IV, but it's c/n is extremely out of sequence.
8. According to Jackson [1], all Armstrong Siddeley Genet powered aircraft had the 'B' suffix to their Type Number, although this seems to rarely be used in the references.
9. These aircraft have been erroneously shown as Avro 594B Avian IIIA with AS Genet II powerplant. The use of the Genet II powerplant makes these Type 594B Avian III (See Produced Types list).

Production References

1. Avro Aircraft Since 1908, A.J. Jackson (Putnam, 1965 and 1990)
2. 85 Years Of South African Air Force, Winston Brent (Freeworld Publications, 2007)
3. Canadian Military Aircraft Serial Numbers at CASPIR (Canadian Aircraft Serials Personnel Information Resource) at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
4. British Civil Aircraft Registers 1911-1999 (Air-Britain Publications, 1999)
5. Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War, Gerald Howson (Putnam, 1990)
6. Air Britain Digest, 1990/4 (Argentina) (Air-Britain Publications)
7. The British Civil Aircraft Registers 1919-1928, Peter W. Moss (Air Britain Publications, 1969)
8. The British Civil Aircraft Registers G-FAAA-'FAAZ (1920-1928) and G-AAAA-'AAZZ (1928-1930), Peter W. Moss (Air Britain Publications, 1971)
9. Avro Avian Production Details at http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/avian.pdf
10. Terry Judge, via Air Britain Information Exchange (AB-IX) forum, 19 Feb 2011. (https://groups.io/g/AB-IX)
11. http://aerohistoriaargentina.blogspot.com/2015/05/aviones-que-volaron-en-argentina-avro.html
12. http://www.airhistory.org.uk
13. Canadian Aircraft Since 1909, K.M. Molson and H.A. Taylor (Putnam, 1982)
14. A History of Chinese Aviation - Encyclopedia of Aircraft and Aviation in China Until 1949, Lennart Andersson (Aviation Historical Society of the Republic of China, 2008)
15. South African historical register at https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/zs-aaa.pdf
16. Janes All The Worlds Aircraft 1927, ed. C.G. Grey and Leonard Bridgeman (Sampson Low, 1927)
17. Janes All The Worlds Aircraft 1928, ed. C.G. Grey and Leonard Bridgeman (Sampson Low, 1928)