The Avro Andover was a 1920s British military transport aircraft built by

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for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. Four aircraft were built, in two versions. Three aircraft, the Type 561, were used as flying

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

s. The sole example of the Type 563 was used as a 12-seater transport.

Design

At the beginning of the 1920s the Royal Air Force required a successor for the outdated Airco DH.10 Amiens on the

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Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

"Desert Air Route". In response Avro designed and constructed the Avro Andover, a single-engined biplane designed to serve as a passenger plane and also as an air ambulance. The fuselage was a steel tube frame covered with canvas and plywood. While the fuselage was a completely new design, the wings, undercarriage and the tail unit were taken from the

Avro Aldershot The Avro 549 Aldershot was a British single-engined heavy bomber aircraft built by Avro. Development and design The Aldershot was designed to meet the 1920 British Specification 2/20 for a heavy long-range day and night bomber to be powered by ...

bomber. The pilot and navigator sat in an open cockpit directly under the leading edge of the upper wing; a passageway led from the cockpit to the passenger cabin. The aircraft held twelve passengers (six on each side of the centre aisle) or six stretchers. The most obvious characteristics of the Andover were the two large fuel tanks on the upper wings and the dual exhaust pipes of the

Rolls-Royce Condor The Rolls-Royce Condor aircraft piston engine was a larger version of the Rolls-Royce Eagle developing up to 675 horsepower (500 kW). The engine first ran in 1918 and a total of 327 engines were recorded as being built. Variants ''Note:'' ...

III engine.

Operations

The first flight of the Andover was on 28 June 1924. Because the "Desert Air Route" was transferred to

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passenger ...

, no order was placed by the RAF, so Avro manufactured only three Type 561, which were transferred to RAF Halton, location of

Princess Mary's RAF Hospital Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

. In spite of the lack of commercial success, a single Type 563 variant was developed by Avro, which had an additional washroom and a baggage compartment. After test flights in March 1925 in Hamble and Gosport, this passenger aircraft was lent to Imperial Airways and made cross-channel trial flights in the summer of 1925. This was the first Avro aircraft to be used in airline service. Imperial Airways returned the aircraft to the RAF in January 1927.

Operators

; *

No. 99 Squadron RAF Number 99 Squadron is a squadron (aviation), squadron of the Royal Air Force which operates the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic/tactical transport aircraft from RAF Brize Norton. The squadron conducts global deployments on behalf of the B ...

Specifications (Type 561)

References

* Jackson, A.J. ''Avro Aircraft since 1908''. London:Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1990.

External links

Avro Andover
– British Aircraft Directory

{{Avro aircraft 1920s British military transport aircraft

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

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