Avro Ashton

Avro · United Kingdom · first flew 1950 · airliner

The Avro 706 Ashton was a British prototype jet airliner made by Avro during the 1950s. It represented an experimental programme and was never intended for commercial use.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, straight
E — Engines	4 × turbojet, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	27.28 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Four Rolls-Royce Nene jets paired in two wing nacelles
Nacelles faired into the wing and extending below in streamlined pods
Enlarged square-shaped tail fin and tricycle landing gear on the later aircraft

A four-jet airliner with the engines grouped in two paired wing nacelles. The crew was five: pilot, co-pilot, navigator, flight engineer and radio operator.

Specifications

The Avro Ashton has a length of 27.28 m (90 ft).
It has a wingspan of 36.58 m (120 ft).
Its maximum speed is 706 km/h (439 mph).
Typical crew: 5.

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

History

It was developed from the Avro Tudor, using experience from the Nene-powered Tudor 8, and flew nearly a year after the de Havilland Comet. Test flights began in 1950.

Variants

Six were built from surplus Tudor airframes: one each of the Ashton 1, 2 and 4 and three Ashton 3s. The later aircraft used Nene 6 engines and a tricycle undercarriage in place of the original tailwheel layout.

Where you'll see it

It was used primarily for experimental work, including jet operation, navigation and bombing equipment trials. One Ashton tested Rolls-Royce Conway and Avon engines, and another was a testbed for the Bristol Siddeley Olympus. The forward fuselage of Ashton 2 is preserved at the Newark Air Museum.

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