Roe Biplane and Triplanes
For a description of the format and data included in Production Tables, see here.
Type Description and Production Data
| Roe I Biplane | Roe I Triplane | Roe II Triplane | Roe III Triplane | Roe IV Triplane |
Roe I Biplane
Single seat two-bay tractor triplane: the tailplane also had three surfaces and was a lifting rather than a stabilising surface, making up around 33% of the total lifting area. Pitch control was effected by altering the angle of incidence of the mainplanes, and lateral control was by wing-warping. The control cables acted to warp the middle wing, the warping being transmitted to the top and bottom planes by the rear interplane struts. Directional control was effected by a rectangular rudder mounted behind the tailplane, and as first built, additional directional stability was provided by surfaces between the interplane struts of the tail assembly. The fuselage was a triangular section wire-braced wooden structure, with the middle wing and tailplane mounted on the upper longerons, and a gap between the lower planes and the lower longeron. The engine was mounted below the leading edge of the wing, with a belt drive to the propeller driveshaft which was mounted above the upper longerons. Both fuselage and wings were covered with brown paper backed by an open-weave fabric. One 9 h.p. JAP powerplant (first aircraft) or 20 h.p. JAP powerplant (second aircraft).
| Roe I Biplane Specification | |||||||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW | Cruise Speed | Maximum Speed | Range | Service Ceiling |
| 36 ft | 23 ft | 350 lb | 650 lb | ||||||
| 10.97 m | 7.01 m | 159 kg | 295 kg | ||||||
Production Details
| C/n | Initial Registration |
Notes |
| 1 aircraft built by A.V. Roe in Putney. Unsubstantiated first flight June 1908. | ||
| (none) | (none) | |
| Total Production 1 | ||
Roe I Triplane
Single seat two-bay tractor triplane: the tailplane also had three surfaces and was a lifting rather than a stabilising surface, making up around 33% of the total lifting area. Pitch control was effected by altering the angle of incidence of the mainplanes, and lateral control was by wing-warping. The control cables acted to warp the middle wing, the warping being transmitted to the top and bottom planes by the rear interplane struts. Directional control was effected by a rectangular rudder mounted behind the tailplane, and as first built, additional directional stability was provided by surfaces between the interplane struts of the tail assembly. The fuselage was a triangular section wire-braced wooden structure, with the middle wing and tailplane mounted on the upper longerons, and a gap between the lower planes and the lower longeron. The engine was mounted below the leading edge of the wing, with a belt drive to the propeller driveshaft which was mounted above the upper longerons. Both fuselage and wings were covered with brown paper backed by an open-weave fabric. One 9 h.p. JAP powerplant (first aircraft) or 20 h.p. JAP powerplant (second aircraft).
| Roe I Triplane Specification | |||||||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW | Cruise Speed | Maximum Speed | Range | Service Ceiling |
| 20 ft | 23 ft | 320 sq ft | 300 lb | 450 lb | 25 mph/ 22 kn | 0.3 mi | |||
| 6.1 m | 7.01 m | 29.73 m2 | 136 kg | 204 kg | 40 km/h | 0.5 km | |||
Production Details
| C/n | Initial Registration |
Notes |
| 1 aircraft begun by A.V. Roe in Putney for George Friswell in 1908. Not completed. | ||
| (none) | (none) | Construction taken over by Friswell in 1909. |
| 2 aircraft begun by A.V. Roe in Putney and completed at Lea Marshes, Walthamstow. First flew July, 1909. | ||
| (none) | (none) | |
| Total Production 2 | ||
| Total Production (Not Completed) 1 | ||
Roe II Triplane
Single seat two-bay tractor triplane, a sturdier development of the Roe I Triplane, with silver spruce struts and spars, and an ash fuselage covered with Pegamoid fabric. The undercarriage was a rigid triangulated structure to which the two-wheeled axle was secured by rubber shock absorber cord. Climbing and diving control was improved by pivoting the entire triplane tail and linking it to the mainplane variable incidence gear. Later large unbalanced ailerons were hinged to the trailing edge of the top wing, and a tall rectangular rudder more than twice the area of the original was fitted. The powerplant, a 35 h.p. Green, was mounted on top of the upper longerons.
| Roe II Triplane Specification | |||||||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW | Cruise Speed | Maximum Speed | Range | Service Ceiling |
| 26 ft | 23 ft | 9 ft | 280 sq ft | 550 lb | 40 mph/ 35 kn | ||||
| 7.92 m | 7.01 m | 2.74 m | 26.01 m2 | 249 kg | 64 km/h | ||||
Production Details
| C/n | Initial Registration |
Notes |
| 1 aircraft "Mercury" built by A.V. Roe and Co., Brownsfield Mills, Manchester. First flew April 1910. | ||
| (none) | (none) | |
| 1 aircraft built by A.V. Roe and Co., Brownsfield Mills, Manchester for W.G. Windham. First flew May 1910. | ||
| (none) | (none) | |
| Total Production 2 | ||
Roe III Triplane
Two seat, unequal span two-bay tractor triplane, structurally similar to Roe II, but with the important difference that the mainplanes were fixed to the fuselage, climbing and diving being effected for the first time by means of a tail elevator. Lateral control was by means of ailerons, hinged to the rear spar of the top wing so that they were slightly inset. The fuselage, a triangular section wire-braced wooden structure, was uncovered, with the middle wing now mounted above the upper longerons, and no gap between the lower planes and the lower longeron.The lower wing span was reduced to 20 ft and the more robust undercarriage was of the twin-skid, four wheel Farman type. The three subsequent triplanes of this type had the span of the top mainplane increased to 31 ft. and were fitted with ailerons hinged to the rear spar of the centre wing. One 35 h.p. JAP (first aircraft) or Green powerplant.
| Roe III Triplane Specification | |||||||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW | Cruise Speed | Maximum Speed | Range | Service Ceiling |
| 31 ft | 23 ft | 287 sq ft | 750 lb | ||||||
| 9.45 m | 7.01 m | 26.66 m2 | 340 kg | ||||||
Production Details
| C/n | Initial Registration |
Notes |
| 4 aircraft built by A.V. Roe and Co., Brownsfield Mills, Manchester. First flew June 1910. | ||
| (none) | (none) | See Note 1 |
| Total Production 4 | ||
Roe IV Triplane
Single seat tractor triplane, structurally similar to the Roe III. The shortened bottom wing was retained but the wing chord was somewhat reduced, and lateral control reverted to wing warping. The triangular section wire-braced fuselage was covered with aluminium sheet from the cockpit forward, uncovered behind the pilot's seat. The middle wing was mounted directly above the upper longerons, and there was a gap between the single lower longeron and the lower wing. The tailplane was triangular in shape and for the first time of the non-lifting monoplane type equipped with movable elevators, an unbalanced rudder and no fixed fin. The four wheeled undercarriage of the previous triplanes was also used. One 35 h.p. Green watercooled powerplant, the radiator for which was mounted in the centre section gap.
| Roe IV Triplane Specification | |||||||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW | Cruise Speed | Maximum Speed | Range | Service Ceiling |
| 32 ft | 30 ft | 9 ft | 294 sq ft | 650 lb | 25 mph/ 22 kn | ||||
| 9.75 m | 9.14 m | 2.74 m | 27.31 m2 | 295 kg | 40 km/h | ||||
Production Details
| C/n | Initial Registration |
Notes |
| 1 aircraft built by A.V. Roe and Co., Brownsfield Mills, Manchester. First flew September 1910. | ||
| (none) | (none) | |
| Total Production 1 | ||
Production Summary
All Aircraft By Type
| Type | Built New | Conv | Canc'd | Total |
| Roe I Biplane | 1 | 1 | ||
| Roe I Triplane | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Roe II Triplane | 2 | 2 | ||
| Roe III Triplane | 4 | 4 | ||
| Roe IV Triplane | 1 | 1 | ||
| 10 | (0) | 1 |
Notes
- Jackson [1], Harlin and Jenks [2] and Goodall and Tagg [3] list only 4 machines:
- No.1 with a 35 h.p. JAP powerplant, first flown 24 June 1910.
- No.2 with 35 h.p. Green powerplant, first flown 9 July 1910 and destroyed by fire while on the way to the Blackpool Flying Meeting by train.
- No.3 with 35 h.p. Green powerplant, urgently built as a replacement for No.2. First flown at Blackpool 1 August 1910 and destroyed in Boston, Mass., at the flying meeting on 8 September 1910. (Goodall and Tagg quote the date incorrectly as 8 August 1910).
- No.4 with 35 h.p. Green powerplant, ordered by the Harvard Aeronautical Society and first flown at the Boston flying meeting on 12 September 1910.
Holmes [4] refers to 6 machines, with the aircraft destroyed in Boston as No.5 plus one machine for Cecil Grace.
It would seem that the figure of 4 machines is the most reliable.
Production References
- Avro Aircraft Since 1908, A.J. Jackson (Putnam, 1965 and 1990)
- Avro An Aircraft Album, E.A. Harlin and G.A. Jenks (Ian Allen, 1973)
- British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001)
- Avro: The History of an Aircraft Company, H. Holmes (The Crowood Press, 2004)
Page Revision History
Revised at Version 2.0.0- Improved Type Description and Added Specification details.