Avro Ashton

infobox Aircraft
name = Ashton
type = experimental airliner
manufacturer = Avro

---

caption = Avro Ashton prototype
designer =
first flight = 1 September 1950
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user =
more users =
produced =
number built = 6
unit cost =
developed from = Avro Tudor
variants with their own articles =

The Avro 706 Ashton was a British prototype jet airliner made by Avro during the 1950s. Although it flew nearly a year before the de Havilland Comet, it represented an experimental programme and was never intended for commercial use.

Design and development

The Avro 689 Tudor 9 was based on the Avro 689 Tudor II piston-engined airliner using experience on work on the Rolls Royce Nene jet-powered experimental variant the Tudor 8. The Avro Type 689 Tudor 9 later renamed the Avro 706 Ashton was a four-jet engined research aeroplane powered by Rolls-Royce Nene engines paired in wing nacelles.

Six were built using the Avro Tudor airframe, beginning with the conversion of Tudor I initially powered by Nene 5 engines. The Ashtons that followed incorporated the upgraded Nene 6 and featured an enlarged, "square-shaped" tail fin and tricycle landing gear replacing the original "taildragger" configuration. The engines were tightly grouped in two nacelles that were faired neatly into the wing but also extended below in streamlined pods. The four-engine arrangement compensated for the low thrust of the early jet engines and greatly reduced asymmetric affects in an "engine-out" scenario. [ Jackson 2000, p. 435. ]

The crew was composed of a pilot, co-pilot, navigator, flight engineer and radio operator clustered together in the cockpit and front compartment of the Ashton. A larger complement could be carried in the spacious fuselage when warranted.

Operational history

Production was completed rapidly through modifications of surplus Tudor 2 airframes with a single example each of the Ashton 1 ("WB490"), Ashton 2 ("WB491"), Ashton 4 ("WB494") and three Ashton 3s ("WB492", "WB493" and "WE670"), all built by Avro. Testing took place in 1950 with evaluations of jet operations, navigation and at least one Ashton (Mk 4) tested bombing equipment with two streamlined underwing bomb containers fitted. [ Winchester 2005, p.66.]

Despite being the "first to fly," the Ashton was engaged in primarily experimental work and was soon eclipsed in technology by the first of the full scale production airliners, the de Havilland Comet.

Ashton "WB491" was modified with an under-fuselage mounting for testing turbine engines. It was used by Rolls Royce for trials with the Conway and Avon.

Bristol Siddeley used Ashton "'WB493" as a testbed for its Olympus turbojet. The aircraft was fitted with two Olympus engines under the wings, outboard of the Nenes. This six-engined aircraft was later used to represent the fictional "Phoenix" jetliner in the 1960 film "Cone of Silence". Later the port Olympus was replaced with a Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus for trials.

urvivors

The fuselage of the Ashton 2 ("WB491") is preserved at Newark Air Museum, UK.

pecifications (Avro Ashton)

Aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=jet

crew=5
length main=89 ft 6.5 in
length alt=27.31 m
span main=120 ft 6 in
span alt=36.58 m
height main=31 ft 3 in
height alt=9.53 m
area main=1421 ft²
area alt=39.5 m²
empty weight main=
empty weight alt=
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main=82,000 lb
max takeoff weight alt=37.195 kg
engine (jet)=Rolls-Royce Nene 6
type of jet=turbojet
number of jets=4
thrust main=5,000 lbf
thrust alt=22.24 kN
max speed main=439 mph
max speed alt=707 km/h
range main=1,725 miles
range alt=2,776 kilometers
ceiling main=40,500 ft
ceiling alt=12,344 m
climb rate main=2,900 ft/min
climb rate alt=884 m/min
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
armament=

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Avro Tudor
similar aircraft=
lists=
see also=
* Avro Canada Jetliner

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Jackson, A.J. "Avro Aircraft since 1908". London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 2000 (revised edition). ISBN 0-85177-797-X.
* Winchester, Jim." X-Planes and Prototypes". London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. ISBN 1-904687-40-7.

External links

* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=79 British Aircraft Directory]
* [http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/gustin_military/db/br/ASHTONAV.html Military Aircraft Database]