Avro 552

552

Role: Civil utility aircraft
Manufacturer: Avro Canadian Vickers (under licence)
First flight: 16 July 1921
Primary users: Argentine Navy Royal Canadian Air Force
Number built: 33

The Avro 552 was a British light biplane aircraft produced in the early 1920s. It was another attempt by Avro to sell a derivative of the wartime 504 into the civil market.

Design and development

In this case, the company took advantage of the large number of war-surplus Wolseley Viper engines left over from Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a production. In 1921, one of these was married to a standard 504K airframe for evaluation under the designation Avro 551. Trials proved encouraging, but an extra fuel tank was installed in the upper wing as a result of the Viper's higher rate of fuel consumption, and changes were made to the aileron design as well.

This configuration went into production as the 552, with the Argentine Navy purchasing 12 examples of a float-equipped version, the 552A, which served as trainers until 1927. Two similar machines were purchased by Bulgaria.

In 1924, the Royal Canadian Air Force arranged for Canadian Vickers to purchase a licence to produce five landplane and nine seaplane examples for use in forestry patrol. These differed from British-built aircraft by the use of U.S. Naval Aircraft Factory floats, and increased fuel tankage for extended range. One of the licence-built seaplanes was fitted with a Wright engine and known in Canadian service as the Avro Wright. Licence production was also undertaken by C.B. Field of Kingswood Knoll, Surrey, who built three aircraft from surplus components supplied by Avro. These were flown as banner tugs by Inca Aviation until 1935.

The fuselage of the 552 prototype, G-EAPR was eventually used as the basis for the Cierva C.8 autogyro, but was eventually converted back to winged configuration by a private owner when disposed of by the company.

Operators

Picture - Canadian-Vickers built Avro Wright operated by the RCAF

Argentina

Argentine Naval Aviation

Bulgaria Canada

Royal Canadian Air Force

Specifications (552)

General characteristics

Crew: one pilot
Capacity: 1 passenger or instructor
Length: 28 ft 0 in (8.54 m)
Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (10.98 m)
Height: 10 ft 5 in (3.18 m)
Wing area: 330 ft² (30.7 m²)
Gross weight: 2,260 lb (1,025 kg)
Powerplant: 1 x— Wolseley Viper, 180 hp (134 kW) each

Performance

Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp. 93.

Avro 552 Pictures and Avro 552 for Sale.

Living Warbirds: The best warbirds DVD series.

Source: WikiPedia