Armstrong Whitworth A.W.650 and A.W.660 Argosy

Twin boom, general-purpose transport aircraft. The tailplane was mounted on twin booms that ran rearwards from the inner engine nacelles, leaving the cargo doors at the rear of the fuselage clear for straight-in loading. The cargo hold had one-piece power operated, sideways opening doors at front and rear, allowing simultaneous loading and unloading to speed up turnround times. The interior had a useable width of 10ft and maximum roof clearance, up to the wing spar box, was 6ft 8in. Eighty passengers, in six-abreast seating, could be accomodated if required. The flight deck was set above the freight hold.
The fuselage was of conventional stressed-skin construction, with two strong double frames taking loads into the centre-section spars. To reduce costs for the design, Avro were bought in to build the wings, these being based on the three-section, two-spar, wing fitted to the Avro Shackleton. Avro designed and built the wing (under Avro Type 733), which required modifications to accommodate the different engine spacing tor the Rolls-Royce Dart engines and attachment points for the twin-boom tail assembly. Responsibitity tor the tail unit, flaps and other small components was handed to Gloster Aircraft. Four 2,020 e.s.h.p Rolls-Royce Dart Mk.526 turboprops.

Series 100 for Riddle Airlines.

Series 100 for British European Airways (BEA).

Larger freight hold and enlarged front and rear doors to enable it to carry standard size cargo pallets; lighter redesigned wing, benefitted from a more modern fail safe structure rather than the safe-life design used on the earlier wing, increasing the maximum range. Four 2,250 e.s.h.p. Rolls-Royce Dart Mk.532/1 turboprops.

Series 220 for British European Airways (BEA).

A.W.650 Argosy Srs. 220 Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
115 ft	86 ft 9 in	29 ft 3 in	1458 sq ft	49000 lb	93000 lb	280 mph/ 243 kn		2100 mi	25000 ft
35.05 m	26.44 m	8.92 m	135.45 m2	22226 kg	42184 kg	451 km/h		3380 km	7620 m

Military version based on the AW650 Srs. 100 to Specification C.195 to meet the requirements of OR.344. Changes included the sealing of the nose door, its location being instead occupied by the radome of a weather radar unit, while the rear doors were substituted for by an alternative clamshell style which incorporated an integral loading ramp, while a stronger cargo floor was also installed. A pair of additional doors were fitted, one each on the starboard and port sides, which enabled paratroopers to exit. Four 2,470 e.s.h.p. Rolls-Royce Dart R.Da.8 Mk.101 or Mk.102 turboprops.

C.Mk.1 converted for radio and airport aids calibration. Externally they appeared the same as the C.Mk.1 except for extra aerials on the port side of the nose. Internally they carried extra electronics.

C.Mk.1 converted for crew familiarisation for T.Mk.2.

C.Mk.1 converted for navigational, air electronics and flight engineer trainer. Externally differed from the C.Mk.1 in that they had a larger radome and a double supply aimers window.

A.W.660 Argosy C.Mk.1 Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
115 ft	89 ft	29 ft 3 in	1458 sq ft	56000 lb	97000 lb	259 mph/ 234 kn		3450 mi	23000 ft
35.05 m	27.13 m	8.92 m	135.45 m2	25401 kg	43998 kg	433 km/h		5552 km	7010 m