Avro 701 Athena

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Contents

Type Description

• Type 701 Athena T.Mk.1
• hree seat trainer to Specification T.7/45 to meet the requirements of OR.159 for advanced flying training, day and night navigation, gunnery, bombing and photography. It was an all-metal low wing monoplane which used the same airfoil section as the Hawker Tempest in order to reproduce fighter-style handling qualities, with a side-by-side cockpit and an observation seat behind. The center section housed an inward retracting Lockheed undercarriage, main fuel tanks, 0.303 in Browning gun, 300 rounds of ammunition and a G.45B camera gun. It was also made immensely strong to minimize damage in the event of a wheels-up landing and was equipped with attachment points for bomb racks or 45 gallon drop tanks as well as access doors to the internal engineering. Although provision was made for folding wings they were not built as the naval requirement was withdrawn before the first Athena flew. One 1,010 hp Armstrong Siddeley Mamba 1 turboprop powerplant, which required a large diameter jet pipe ejecting through the fuselage side aft of the starboard wing root.

• Type 701 Athena T.Mk.1A
• As T.Mk.1 with 1,400 hp Rolls-Royce Dart 1 turboprop powerplant, with jet pipe ejecting under the fuselage.

• Type 701 Athena T.Mk.2
• Two seat advanced trainer to Specification T.14/47. 1,280 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin 35 powerplant. A significant redesign included moving the wing forward by 27 inches in order to accommodate the much heavier Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The recuction of crew from three to two resulted in a shorter canopy. A taller fin and rudder, plus a small dorsal fin, were also added.

Production Details

Production References

1. Avro Aircraft Since 1908, A.J. Jackson (Putnam, 1965 and 1990)
2. RAF Air Historical Branch: RAF Aircraft Movement Card (A.M. Form 78) (Dept of Archive and Aviation Records, RAF Museum, Hendon, Records MFC-77-15-8)