Avro Cadet

infobox Aircraft
name = Cadet
type = Trainer
manufacturer = Avro

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caption = RAAF Avro Cadets
designer =
first flight = October 1931
introduced = 1932
retired =
status =
primary user =
more users =
produced = 1932 - 1939
number built = 104
unit cost =
developed from = Avro Tutor
variants with their own articles = Avro 638 Club Cadet The Avro Cadet was a single engined British biplane trainer designed and built by Avro in the 1930s as a smaller development of the Avro Tutor for civil use.

Design and development

The Avro 631 Cadet was developed in 1931 as a smaller, more economical, derivative of the Avro Tutor military trainer, for flying club or personal use. The first prototype, "G-ABRS" flew in October 1931 cite book |last= Jackson|first= A J |title=Avro Aircraft since 1908 |edition= 2nd edition|year= 1990 |publisher= Putnam Aeronautical Books|location= London |isbn= 0-85177-834-8 ] . It was publicly unveiled at the opening of Skegness airfield in May 1932, although by this time, the first orders for the type, for the Irish Army Air Corps, had already been placed and the order (for six Cadets) delivered.

The Avro 631 Cadet was replaced in production in September 1934 cite book |last= Jackson|first= A.J.|authorlink= |coauthors= |title= British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 1|year= 1974|publisher= Putnam|location= London|isbn=0 370 10006 9 ] by the improved Avro 643 Cadet, which had a revised rear fuselage with a raised rear seat, retaining the 135 hp Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major 1 engine of the Avro 631. In turn this formed the basis for the more powerful Avro 643 Mk II Cadet ; it was also strengthened and had improved parachute egress. This model entered service in 1935 and was built in the largest numbers, including 34 fitted with a tail wheel for the Royal Australian Air Force.

Operational history

The Cadet, while smaller and more economical than the Tutor, was still more expensive to run than competing two seat light civil aircraft and was harder to hanger because of its lack of folding wings; so was mainly used as a trainer for flying schools or the military. By far the largest civil user was Air Service Training Ltd, which operated 17 Avro 631s at Hamble, together with a further four operated by its Hong Kong subsidiary, the Far East Aviation Co. Air Service Training also operated 23 Mk II Cadets, with both these and the earlier Cadets remaining in service with Reserve Training Schools run by Air Service Training until they were impressed as ATC instructional airframes in 1941.

The other major operator was the RAAF, which acquired 34 Mk II Cadets , delivered between November 1935 and February 1939. These remained in service until 1946, when the surviving 16 were sold for civil use. Two of these were re-engined in 1963 with 220 h.p. Jacobs R-755 engines for use as crop sprayers. In the U.K. only two Cadets survived the war.

Variants

;Avro 631 Cadet:Initial version, powered by Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major I engine, 35 built.;Avro 643 Cadet:Raised rear seat, 8 built.;Avro 643 Mk II Cadet :Powered by 150 hp Genet Major 1A, 61 built.

Operators

Civil operators

;UK
*Air Service Training Ltd

Military operators

;AUS
*Royal Australian Air Force operated 34 Avro 643 MkII Cadet.;IRL
*Irish Air Corps operated 7 Avro 631 Cadets.;China as ROC
*China had 5 Avro 631 deployed at Liuzhou Aviation School during the Second Sino-Japanese War, all of which were lost due to Japanese bombing in 1939.

urvivors

As of 2008, there are two Cadets flying in Australia ("VH-AEG" and "'AGH"), one in Ireland (the last of the Irish Air Corps machines, though home after a long tour of duty via the U.K. and New Zealand as "ZK-AVR") and one reputed airworthy in the Museu do Ar, Portugal.

pecifications (Avro 643 Mk II Cadet )

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

ref=Avro Aircraft since 1908

crew=Two
capacity=
length main= 24 ft 9 in
length alt= 7.55 m
span main= 30 ft 2 in
span alt= 9.20 m
height main= 8 ft 10 in
height alt= 2.69 m
area main= 262 ft²
area alt= 24.3 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 1,286 lb
empty weight alt= 585 kg
loaded weight main= 2,000 lb
loaded weight alt= 909 kg
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=

engine (prop)=Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major 1A
type of prop=seven cylinder radial
number of props=1
power main= 150 hp
power alt= 112 kW
power original=
max speed main= 101 knots
max speed alt= 116 mph, 187 km/h
cruise speed main= 87 knots
cruise speed alt= 100 mph, 161 km/h
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main= 283 nm
range alt= 325 mi, 523 km
ceiling main= 12,000 ft
ceiling alt= 3,660 m
climb rate main= 700 ft/min
climb rate alt= 3.6 m/s
loading main= 7.63 lb/ft²
loading alt= 37.4 kg/m²
thrust/weight=
power/mass main= 0.075 hp/lb
power/mass alt= 0.12 kW/kg
more performance=

armament=

avionics=

ee also

aircontent

related=
* Avro Tutor: Cadet developed from this
* Avro 638 Club Cadet: developed Cadet with folding wings

similar aircraft=

sequence=

lists=

see also=

References

External links

* [http://www.raaf.gov.au/raafmuseum/exhibitions/hangar180/avro.htm RAAF Museum]
* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=254 British Aircraft Directory]