Avro 707

Avro 707
USN · Public domain · source
Name	Avro 707
Type	Experimental delta-wing research aircraft
Manufacturer	Avro
First flight	4 September 1949
Primary user	Royal Aircraft Establishment

Avro 707 The Avro 707 was a British experimental delta-wing research aircraft developed by Avro to validate the aerodynamic characteristics of the larger Avro Vulcan strategic bomber. Built and flown in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the 707 programme involved collaboration with the Royal Aircraft Establishment, engineers influenced by work at RRE and contemporary research institutions such as National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and drew on design debates involving designers associated with Handley Page and de Havilland. The 707 contributed data relevant to projects connected with aircraft operated by Royal Air Force squadrons and influenced later delta designs seen in European programmes.

Development and Design

Avro conceived the 707 during post-war studies into high-speed, high-altitude strategic aircraft akin to the Avro Vulcan bomber and contemporaries such as the Concorde research lineage and early Cold War projects of SNCASO and Dassault Aviation. The design team at Avro worked alongside aerodynamicists from the Royal Aircraft Establishment and consulted performance predictions used by planners at the Ministry of Supply (United Kingdom). Structural concepts reflected research at institutions including Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge, while wind-tunnel tests referenced by the project paralleled work at National Physical Laboratory and laboratories influenced by engineers from Gloster Aircraft Company and Fairey Aviation. The 707 used a small delta wing to reproduce low-speed handling and high-subsonic flow characteristics relevant to the Avro Vulcan and addressed issues debated in papers by figures from A. V. Roe and Company and technicians who had served with Royal Aircraft Establishment teams. Designers referenced manufacturing practices employed at English Electric and materials research carried out at British Aluminium Company.

Prototype Variants

Avro produced several prototype variants, each intended to explore different aspects of delta aerodynamics and control. The initial airframe paralleled design philosophies shared by engineers who had worked on the Handley Page Victor and the de Havilland Comet programmes. Prototype modifications involved control surfaces, structural treatments and engine installations influenced by turbine developments pursued at facilities like Rolls-Royce and Metropolitan-Vickers. Test articles were evaluated by pilots trained at Central Flying School and technicians often seconded from units such as Royal Aircraft Establishment and maintenance units serving Royal Air Force bases. Variants incorporated incremental changes reflecting lessons from other contemporary experimental types, including work by teams associated with Hawker Siddeley and insights exchanged at conferences where representatives from NACA and Soviet Air Force research circles sometimes compared notes indirectly through published proceedings.

Flight Testing and Operational History

Flight testing began in 1949, with pilots from establishments including Royal Aircraft Establishment and training at the Empire Test Pilots' School. The test programme produced handling data of interest to planners at the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) and to manufacturers such as English Electric and BAC. Test flights were conducted from airfields used by groups like Royal Air Force, including operations that involved liaison with units at bases where squadrons formerly equipped with types such as the Avro Lancaster had been stationed. The 707 trials produced performance assessments cited alongside studies conducted at National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and prompted comparative analysis with delta devices evaluated by teams from Société Nationale d'Études et de Construction de l'Aviation (SNECMA) and engineers connected with Dassault. Operational records show the prototypes served primarily in research roles until retired to museums and exhibitions that also display related aeronautical heritage from firms such as Science Museum, London and collections associated with Royal Air Force Museum.

Technical Specifications

The Avro design incorporated a pure delta wing, compact fuselage and powerplants indicative of early turbojet developments from manufacturers like Rolls-Royce and Armstrong Siddeley. Structural choices paralleled materials selection analyses promoted by the National Physical Laboratory and manufacturing techniques similar to those used by English Electric and Avro on other post-war projects. Avionics and control systems were influenced by instrumentation standards practiced at establishments including Royal Aircraft Establishment and sensors comparable to equipment later standardized across programmes at British Aircraft Corporation. Specific metrics examined during the programme—wing planform, control hinge moments and low-speed stall characteristics—were documented and compared with findings from research at Imperial College London and University of Manchester aeronautics departments.

Legacy and Influence

The 707 programme provided empirical data that informed the design of the larger Avro Vulcan and influenced delta-wing studies undertaken by European manufacturers such as Dassault Aviation and consortiums later forming British Aircraft Corporation. Its research outcomes were referenced in academic work at University of Cambridge and Imperial College London and in governmental aeronautical planning by the Ministry of Supply (United Kingdom). Surviving prototypes have been preserved in museums affiliated with the Science Museum Group and the Royal Air Force Museum, where the aircraft appears alongside exhibits relating to the Avro Vulcan, Handley Page Victor and contemporaneous Cold War systems. The programme's contributions to delta-wing understanding fed into aerospace curricula at institutions including Cranfield University and influenced later projects undertaken by engineers who previously worked at Avro and later at firms such as Hawker Siddeley and BAC.

Category:Experimental aircraft