Avro 531 Spider
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name=531 Spider and 538
|image=Avro531 left.png
|type=Fighter
|manufacturer=Avro
|designer= Clifton Britt
|first_flight=April 1918
|status=
|primary_user=
|number_built=2
|variants=
}}
The Avro 531 Spider was a prototype First World War British sesquiplane fighter aircraft built by Avro.
Design and development
The Spider was a sesquiplane with a largely conventional configuration, but it used Warren truss-type interplane struts, hence the appellation "Spider". In tests, the aircraft demonstrated exceptional performance, handling, and pilot visibility however the time it flew, the War Office had already selected the Sopwith Snipe for mass production.
A second, more refined version, the Avro 531A, was apparently never completed, but some of its components seem to have been used to build a derivative, the Avro 538. This had standard interplane struts and was intended as a racing aircraft. It was never used for this purpose, however, because it was discovered that it had a faulty wing spar, so the Avro firm used it as a hack instead from May 1919 to September 1920.Donald, p. 77.
Specifications (531)
{{Aircraft specs
|prime units? = imp
|ref=Avro Aircraft since 1908 Jackson 1990, p.161.
|crew=one pilot
|length ft=20|length in=6
|span ft=28|span in=6
|height ft=7|height in=10
|wing area sqft=189
|empty weight lb=963
|gross weight lb=1,517
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Clerget 9B air-cooled rotary piston engine
|eng1 hp=130
|max speed mph=120
|range miles=250
|range note={{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}
|ceiling ft=19,000
|climb rate ftmin=1,250
|armament = 1 × fixed, forward-firing {{cvt|.303|in|1}} Vickers machine gun
}}
References
{{commons category}}
=Citations=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- Donald, David, ed. The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-7607-0592-6}}.
- Jackson, A.J. Avro Aircraft since 1908. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1990. {{ISBN|0-85177-834-8}}.
- Taylor, Michael J. H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989, p. 93.
- World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing, File 889, Sheet 94.
{{Avro aircraft}}
Category:1910s British fighter aircraft
Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft