Avro 701 Athena
Avro · United Kingdom · first flew 1948 · light aircraft
The Avro 701 Athena was a British advanced trainer built by Avro in the late 1940s. It was designed to replace the North American Harvard in the Royal Air Force but was bought only in small numbers.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 11.37 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- All-metal low-wing monoplane
- Side-by-side cockpit
- Merlin-powered production aircraft with a four-bladed propeller
An all-metal low-wing trainer with a single Merlin in the nose.
Specifications
- The Avro 701 Athena has a length of 11.37 m (37 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 12.2 m (40 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 472 km/h (293 mph).
- Typical crew: 2.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
It was designed to Air Ministry Specification T.7/45 for a three-seat turboprop advanced trainer. The first prototype, powered by an Armstrong Siddeley Mamba, flew on 12 June 1948 at Woodford. The Merlin-powered Athena T.2 first flew on 1 August 1948.
Variants
The T.1 was the turboprop prototype with a Mamba, and the T.1A had a Rolls-Royce Dart. The T.2 used a 1,280 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin 35, with four prototypes and 15 production aircraft.
Where you'll see it
The 15 production Athenas were used from 1950 for armament training at the RAF Flying College at Manby. The competing Boulton Paul Balliol was preferred, and no sales resulted from a demonstration tour of India. Two of the 22 built were lost in accidents.
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