| 552 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Civil utility aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Avro Canadian Vickers (under licence) |
| Primary users | Argentine Navy |
| Number built | 33 |
| History | |
| First flight | 16 July 1921 |
TheAvro 552 was a British lightbiplane aircraft produced in the early 1920s. It was another attempt byAvro to sell a derivative of the wartime504 to the civil market.
In this case, the company took advantage of the large number of war-surplusWolseley Viper engines left over fromRoyal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a production. In 1921, one of these was married to a standard 504K airframe for evaluation under the designationAvro 551. Trials proved encouraging, but an extra fuel tank was installed in the upper wing as a result of the Viper's higher rate of fuel consumption, and changes were also made to theaileron design.
This configuration went into production as the552, with theArgentine Navy purchasing 12 examples of afloat-equipped version, the552A,[1] which served as trainers until1927. Two similar machines were purchased byBulgaria.
In1924, theRoyal Canadian Air Force arranged forCanadian Vickers to purchase a licence to produce five landplanes and nineseaplane examples for use inforestry patrol. These differed from British-built aircraft by the use of U.S.Naval Aircraft Factory floats, and increased fuel tankage for extended range. One of the license-built seaplanes was fitted with a Wright engine and known in Canadian service as theAvro Wright. Licensed production was also undertaken by C.B. Field ofKingswood Knoll,Surrey, who built three aircraft from surplus components supplied by Avro. These were flown as banner tugs byInca Aviation until1935.
The fuselage of the 552 prototype,G-EAPR was later used as the basis for theCierva C.8autogyro, but was eventually converted back to the winged configuration by a private owner when disposed of by the company.
General characteristics
