Avro 671 Rota

Avro · United Kingdom · first flew 1934 · light aircraft

The Avro 671 Rota was the British licence-built version of the Cierva C.30A autogyro, produced by Avro for the RAF and civil market in the mid-1930s. It featured a free-spinning rotor for lift and a conventional piston engine for forward thrust, making it incapable of hovering but able to fly at very low speeds.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, rotary
E — Engines	1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	Single rotor above open-frame fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

British licence-built Cierva C.30 autogyro
Single rotor above open-frame fuselage
Fixed undercarriage and small stub wings

Unmistakable autogyro configuration with a large overhead rotor, compact low-set fuselage, tractor piston engine, fixed undercarriage, and small stub wings that provide no significant lift.

Specifications

The Avro 671 Rota has a length of 6.01 m (20 ft).
It has a wingspan of 11.28 m (37 ft).
Its maximum speed is 177 km/h (110 mph).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

The RAF acquired a batch as Rota Mk Is for calibration and experimental duties, finding them useful for radar calibration work during World War II due to their ability to fly slowly and predictably. Civil examples were also operated before the war by private owners and demonstration operators.

Variants

The Rota Mk I was the standard RAF version; civil examples were essentially identical and designated Cierva C.30A by their operators.

Where you'll see it

Used by the RAF primarily for radar calibration duties during World War II; civil examples operated in the UK pre-war. A small number of airworthy or static examples survive in museums.

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