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The Avro Type G was developed for the Military Aeroplane Competition of August 1912 and was the first cabin biplane in the world.
A.V. Roe had already produced a monoplane cabin aircraft, the Avro Type F, which had been the first aircraft with a fully enclosed cabin to fly. The Type G used a similar structure to the Type F and the earlier Avro 500, with a square cross section to the fuselage, built around a box girder frame. The covered fuselage filled the entire gap between the wings, with the crew cabin between the wings. The cabin had large side windows, but very little forward view past the engine.
Power came from an inline engine which allowed for a narrow fuselage, only 2ft 3in wide at its thickest. The engine was attached to the fuselage using steel bearers and fully enclosed in a cowling. The exhaust went over the roof. Spiral tube radiators were mounted on either side of the cabin.
The wings were the same as on the Avro 500. They had ash spars and were covered with Pegamoid fabric (pegamoid is a waterproof varnish). They could be detached and spilt into three sections for ground transport. Control was provided by the wing warping system.
Two Type Gs were to be built. The first, competition number 6, was to be powered by a 60hp Green engine and flown by Wildred Parke of Avro. The second, competition number 7, was to be powered by a 60hp A.B.C. eight cylinder engine and flown by their pilot R.L. Charteris. However the A.B.C. engine wasn’t ready in time. Instead the Green engine was installed in No.7, which presumably was nearer to completion, and the aircraft was flown by Parke. The delays meant that there was no time to make a maiden flight, so the aircraft went straight to the competition ground at Larkhill on Salisbury Plain. It easily won the assembly time contest, taking only 14.5 minutes to assemble. In contrast the Farman biplane took 9 hours 29 minutes!
The Type G had a mixed time during the trials. On 7 August 1912 turbulent conditions forced Parke to land only half an hour into the three hour endurance test. To make things worse the aircraft overturned during the landing and needed to go back to Avro for repairs. It returned on 14 August and the trials resumed. It managed to fly for 37 minutes in a rainstorm and 30 minutes in a wind of 40mph. However on 25 August, during the second attempt at the endurance test, Parke entered a spin during a series of steep dives. Before this only one pilot had survived going into a spin. Parkemanaged to regain control by moving the control stick to the centre then applying full opposite rudder. He was the first pilot to survive a spin in front of expert observers. He was also able to give a clear account of the event. This became know as ‘Parke’s Dive’ and the resulting discussions helped develop an understanding of how to get out of a spin.
The crash meant that the Type G didn’t have time to complete all of the trials. It also had a poor rate of climb, taking 9min 30sec to reach 1,000ft. However Avro were awarded £100 for attempting all of the tests.
The Type G returned to Avro at Shoreham on 11 October. After some repairs it went to Brooklands, where an attempt to win the British Empire Michelin endurance prize was ended after 3hr 30min by a broken water connection. On 24 October the aircraft set a duration record for all British aircraft of 7 hours 31 minutes. However this record only stood for an hour. The Avro pilot had been competing against Harry Hawker flying a Sopwith Wright biplane. Hawker was able to stay in the air for another hour, landing after 8 hours 23 minutes and taking the record. The Type G was last mentioned in February 1913.
Engine: Green
Power: 60hp
Crew: 2
Span: 35ft 3in
Length: 28 ft 6in
Height: 9ft 9in
Tare weight: 1,191lb
All-up weight: 1,792lb
Max speed: 61.8mph
Climb Rate: 105ft/ min
Service ceiling:
Range: 345 miles