Avro 626 Specifications
AVRO 626
Design:
Sir Alliot Verdon – Roe and Roy Chadwick
Company:
A V Roe
Developed from:
Avro Prefect
Avro 621
Wing Span:
34’ 0”
Wing Area:
300 Sq Ft
Length:
26’ 6”
Height:
9’ 7”
Ceiling:
14,800 ft 4,511 M
Speed:
130 MPH
Cruise:
108 MPH 153 KPH
Range:
2,010 Miles
Crew:
1 to 3
Role:
Advanced Trainer
Gunnery Trainer
W/T Trainer
Air Observer Trainer
Emergency Air Ambulance
Qty Manufactured:
178 All Mks
First Flight:
1930
Armament:
1 Synchronized Vickers
1 Lewis on Scarff Ring in Rear Cockpit
Up to 2 x 500 Lb Bombs [277 Kg]
Years Served:
1935 to 1943
1980 to
Qty Served:
4
Tail Nos:
NZ 201 to NZ 204
ENGINE
Type:
Armstrong Siddley Cheetah V or VA
7 Cylinder Radial Air Cooled
Bore:
5.25”
Stroke”
5.5”
Volume:
835 Cu In
Compression Ratio:
6.35 : 1
Max RPM [T/O]:
2300 RPM
T/O Power:
410 HP
T/O Boost:
2.5 Lbs
Supercharger Ratio:
6.52 : 1
Fuel:
73 Octane
Max Consumption:
39 Gal / Hr
Oil:
OMD 370
Max Consumption:
10 Pts / Hr
Length:
52”
Diameter:
47.7”
Weight:
683 Lbs
Power to Weight Ratio:
1 Lb = 0.6 HP
Production Started:
1923
Overhaul Life:
600 hrs
SFTS = Secondary Flight Training School
RTP = Reduced To Produce , scraped.
TT = Trade Training.
Inst = Non Flying Aeroplane, used for instructional purposes.
All Aircraft arrived in N Z on SS Middlesex on 25 Sept 1935
NZ 201 Constructors No 809
Wigram, First Flight 1 SFTS. 4 Oct 1935
Crashed at Wigram. 20 Apr 1937
Taxi Incident with NZ 630 [Gordon]. 21 Dec 1939
N Z Railways operated T T Centre at Addington. Inst 9
RTP. 11 Apr 1942
NZ 202 Constructors No 810
Wigram, Stored Initially, 1 SFTS. 1936
RTP, Wigram 11 Apr 1942
NZ 203 Constructors No 811
Wigram, Stored Initially, 1 SFTS. 1936
Withdrawn From Flying. 1943
Napier Air Training Corps, Inst 90. Jul 1943
Registered ZK – APC May 1947
Sold to Jim Froggley. May 1947
Last flown. 1958
Registration Canceled. 1965
Purchased Back. Oct 1980
Refurbished to Flying Condition at Ohakea started. Nov 1981
First flight after restoration. 8 Jul 1985
De registered. 23 Aug 1985
RNZAF Museum at Wigram. 23 Aug 1985
NZ 204 Constructors No 812
Wigram, Stored Initially,1 SFTS. 1936
RTP, Wigram. 11 May 1947
[all photos RNZAF Official ]
Like all the early fabric covered aircraft, the frame was only there to drape the doped fabric over. I could lift a bare wing with one hand.
Also the range it could fly, Auckland to Sydney is about 1300 miles, the range of the 626 was 2,000 miles, it could have been capable of international flights.
would have been hard on the bum sitting that long though.
The 626 was such a fun aircraft to fly that it was saved from becoming a top dresser, by Jim Frogley, he bought it to be his first top dresser, but bought and used tiger moths instead. He claimed the 626 could climb faster than the ground, going into an unknown gully he could climb out, most aircraft can't and crash.
Based on the airframe pictures in your other post and the power/weight ratio you list here, that plane must have weighed next to nothing!
Another, later thought. The power to weigh ratio is the bare engine pwr/wt. The engine could have been fitted into almost anything, so the manufacturers specs could not be worked out that way.
These were the early aluminium frames that were starting to replace wood frames. The weight of the airframe isn't given because the internal fittings could and did change. The engine would have been half the weight at a guess.
That does make more sense given my quick number crunch, but I know those aluminum airframes can't have weighed more than a couple hundred pounds at most all together.
as you can see four of us were doing the pushing getting it onto the truck. The tyres were flatter than they look. Jim wasn't doing much. The tail was lifted by one man on to the back of the truck.
The 626 was unique for N Z, the rear seat came out and a 'battle stretcher' could be wriggled in through the hole, mounted on runners that stretched the length of the forward fuselarge, and tied down. The rear seat was then refitted and the casuality could be flown to safety.