Avro Type D
Avro · United Kingdom · first flew 1911 · light aircraft
The Avro Type D was one of A.V. Roe's earliest successful designs, a small tractor biplane that established the layout later refined into Avro's pre-war military trainers.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Small single-bay biplane with a slender, largely uncovered box-girder fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Small single-bay biplane with a slender, largely uncovered box-girder fuselage
- Large wing area on a tiny airframe, giving it a fragile, spindly look
- Simple twin-skid main undercarriage typical of early Avro types
A slight, largely uncovered fuselage strung between two shallow wings, with a simple twin-skid undercarriage and none of the cowling or fairings seen on slightly later designs.
Specifications
- The Avro Type D has a length of 8.53 m (28 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 9.45 m (31 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 79 km/h (49 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
First flown in 1911, the Type D replaced Roe's earlier pusher and triplane experiments with a lighter, tractor-engined biplane. Its practicality won early orders, including some of the first aircraft bought by Britain's naval and military authorities before the First World War.
Variants
Several individual Type Ds were built with minor differences in engine and seating, feeding directly into the definitive Avro 500 series of military trainers.
Where you'll see it
It never saw operational service in the way later Avro types did, but its handling qualities shaped the trainers the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service relied on into the war.
Related aircraft
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