Avro 539

Avro 539

National origin: United Kingdom
Manufacturer: Avro
First flight: 1919
Retired: 1921
Status: Destroyed
Number built: 1

The Avro 539 was a British single-seat racing biplane built by Avro for the 1919 Schneider Trophy.

Development

The Avro 539 (later 539A) was a single-seat floatplane first flown on 29 August 1919. It was single bay, unstaggered biplane with a nose-mounted 240 hp (180 kW) Siddeley Puma piston engine and twin wooden floats. It had a single open cockpit for the pilot aft of the wings. Registered G-EALG it was modified before the race with a balanced rudder and elongated fin. The Schneider Trophy was held on the 10 September 1919 but the 539 was eliminated. It was later modified as a landplane with a smaller fin and flown at an Aerial Derby at Hendon Aerodrome in July 1920. The aircraft forced landed but was re-built as the Avro 539B for the 1921 Aerial Derby with a 450 hp (340 kW) Napier Lion and a revised landing gear and registered G-EAXM. It was destroyed in a landing accident at Hamble on 15 July 1921 on the eve of the race.

Variants

Avro 539A Schneider Trophy float plane with a 240 hp (180 kW) Siddeley Puma engine, later modified as a landplane, rebuilt as the Avro 539A after a forced landing. Avro 539B 539A rebuilt with a 450 hp (340 kW) Napier Lion engine.

Specifications (539A)

Data from

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 21 ft 4 in (6.5 m)
Wingspan: 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m)
Height: 9 ft 9 in (2.9 m)
Wing area: 195 ft² (18.1 m²)
Empty weight: 1,670 lb (758 kg)
Gross weight: 2,119 lb (961 kg)
Powerplant: 1 x— Siddeley Puma, 240 hp (179 kW)

Schneider Trophy

Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 1. London: Putnam. ISBN 0 370 10006 9.

Avro 539 Pictures and Avro 539 for Sale.

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Source: WikiPedia