Avro Types 558 and 560

Single seat, single bay light biplane built for the 1923 Daily Mail performance trials at Lympne. The wings were of high aspect ratio and very pronounced stagger, the top centre section carried on two I-struts, while the planes themselves wre separated by one I-strut on each side. These struts were solid spruce of streamline section, into the slotted ends of which are riveted V-shaped Duralumin plates, bolted to fittings on the wing spars. The fabric covered wing featured a single spruce box-section spar, the ribs having spruce flanges and three-ply webs. The leading and trailing edges are formed by small diameter steel tubing. Ailerons were fitted to both sets of wings. The fuselage consisted of four longerons braced with diagonal struts forming a Warren girder, to which stringers were added to keep the fabric clear of the structure. The top longerons form a straight horizontal line, and the main structure of the fuselage is fairly shallow, being made up to the required overall depth by a deep deck fairing consisting of spruce stringers supported on three-ply formers. The whole of the fuselage is fabric covered. The tail consisted of a cantilever tail plane to which was hinged the divided elevator, and of a fairly large balanced rudder, hinged to the sternpost of the fuselage. There was no fixed vertical fin. The semi-recessed undercarriage consisted of two bicycle wheels of 22 ins. diameter carried on a steel tube axle sprung by rubber cord, so mounted that less than half of their diameter projected through the floor of the fuselage, the narrow wheel track supported by wing tip skids. This proved difficult on rough ground and eventually both aircraft featured raised undercarriages. Both aircraft were powered by motorcycle engines, the first a B & H, the second being fitted with a 500 cc Douglas.

Type 558 Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
30 ft	19 ft 6 in		166 sq ft	294 lb	480 lb		60 mph/ 52 kn
9.14 m	5.94 m		15.42 m2	133 kg	218 kg		97 km/h

Single seat ultra-light high aspect ratio catilever monoplane built for the 1923 Daily Mail performance trials at Lympne.The wing had pronounced taper both in chord and thickness, and was built in two halves. The two spars were built-up box-sections, with flanges of solid spruce and webs of double diagonal spruce skins, projecting a considerable distance beyond the inner rib into openings in the fuselage, where they were bolted together by means of special joint plates to form a continuous girder. The ribs had T-section spruce flanges tied together by means of corrugated Duralumin struts and ties, along with drag bracing formed of spruce struts and ties arranged in the form of a Warren girde. The wing covering is of special light linen fabric, doped with Titanine glider dope. The fuselage consisted of four longerons braced with diagonal struts forming a Warren girder, to which stringers were added to keep the fabric clear of the structure.  The pilot's cockpit was between the front and rear spars of the wing. The cantilever tailplane was made in two parts attached to the rear end of the fuselage, fastened together so as to form a continuous unit, with no external bracing is required. The balanced rudder was fitted, but no fixed fin. The simple undercarriage consisted of two light wooden wheels mounted on a steel tube axle, supported from the fuselage by two struts on each side, with lateral wire bracing. One 698 cc Blackburn Tomtit powerplant.
The aircraft was later transferred to the Air Ministry for evaluation to meet Specification 44/23 for a light aeroplane for practice flying and communications, but was not ordered.

Type 560 Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
36 ft	21 ft		138 sq ft	285 lb	471 lb		65 mph/ 56 kn
10.97 m	6.4 m		12.82 m2	129 kg	214 kg		105 km/h