Avro Canada C102 Jetliner
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C102 Jetliner | |
---|---|
Role | Jet airliner |
National origin | Canada |
Manufacturer | Avro Canada |
First flight | 10 August 1949 |
Primary user | Trans Canada Airlines (intended)
|
Number built | One (second prototype cancelled whilst in production and scrapped) |
The Avro Canada C102 Jetliner was a Canadian
Design and development
Genesis
In 1945
Over the next few months, the teams at TCA and Avro refined the requirements, which were signed off on 9 April 1946. They called for a 36-seat aircraft with a cruising speed of 425 miles per hour (684 km/h), a range of 1,200 miles (1,900 km), an average distance between stops of 250 miles (400 km) and a longest single flight of 500 mi (800 km). The difference between the range and maximum airport distances was to allow for the required 45 minutes stacking and diversion to a 120-mile (190-km)-distant alternate airport in a 20 mph (32 km/h) headwind. The aircraft also needed to be able to operate from existing 4,000 ft (1,200 m) runways. Load was 12,700 lbs and 50 passengers.[3]
The agreement also specified a number of contractual terms that, in retrospect, appear especially odd. In spite of TCA's experience with contracting for the
Design changes
In 1947,
Chief Designer James C. Floyd was upset by these developments, but in the end found a number of advantages to the four-engine layout. The main advantage was that in an engine-out situation, the aircraft would lose only a quarter of its thrust, rather than half. In particular, the asymmetry in thrust originally called for a powered rudder to correct for yaw in the case of an engine failure, but with four engines it was found yaw was so small it could be corrected easily with just the manual trim controls.[6]
Although bearing some resemblance to the jet-powered Avro Tudor 8 and 9 (the former flying on jet power in 1948 and the latter becoming the experimental Avro Ashton first flying in 1950), Floyd's design was conceived from the outset as a commercial jet airliner.[7] The updated design was presented in October 1948, and in February 1948 TCA responded with changes of their own. Now they wanted the aircraft to cruise at 500 mph (800 km/h), and they increased the fuel requirements to allow for wider diversions. In April, Gordon McGregor took over the presidency of TCA, and told Smye that he did not want it to be the first airline with a jet. Nevertheless, the project pressed on, and was the topic of a major article in Aviation Week in November.[8][6]
The aircraft was scheduled to begin deliveries in May 1952, and enter service in October,[9] which would have given it a full six years headstart on the 707, which did not enter service until October 1958,[9] and more than 11 years on its top short-field competitor, the Boeing 727. Its short-field performance exceeded the Caravelles (with a comparable number of passengers).[9]
Proposals exist for 30-, 40-, and 50-seat models, as well as 52- and 64-seat
Operational history
Two years later, the first prototype, CF-EJD (-X), began taxiing tests, and first flew on 10 August 1949, only 25 months after the design had started, and only 13 days after the first flight of the DH Comet. Delays to the first flight were caused by many burst tires as the anti-skid braking system had not yet been fitted for the high-speed taxi trials which included braking tests and steering control checks. These high speed runs had to be done on a shorter runway than had been planned as the Department of Transport had taken the longer runway out of service for rework at the last minute.[11] On its second flight, on 16 August, the landing gear failed to extend, and the Jetliner had to make a belly landing. However, the damage was minor, and the aircraft was in the air again in three weeks.
During its first inspection in November the servo rudder was removed as unnecessary but the servo elevators were retained for dealing with extreme centre-of-gravity positions.[12]
In April 1950, the Jetliner carried the world's first jet airmail from Toronto to New York City in 58 minutes– half the previous record (c. 340 miles, 352 mph). The flight was highly publicized and the crew was welcomed with a ticker tape parade through the streets of Manhattan. So new was the concept of jet power that the Jetliner was made to park far from the terminal, and pans were placed under the engines in case they dripped any "self-igniting fuel." On its return the next day, the Jetliner returned to Canada via Montreal.
At the time, in the mid-1950s, the
Nevertheless, only a few months later, the enigmatic
The project was almost restarted in 1953, when CF-100 production was in full swing, but this never happened. In 1955, TCA ordered 51 Vickers Viscount turboprop aircraft from Vickers-Armstrong in England. These were the first turbine-powered aircraft in regular service in North America. They continued in service until 1974.
Cancellation
The Jetliner was later used for taking in-flight photographs of CF-100 development trials such as canopy jettison and rocket firing. On 10 December 1956, the Jetliner was grounded and ordered not to fly again. It was donated to the
Legacy
Canada Post issued a stamp to commemorate the development of the Jetliner. Jetliner Road in Mississauga, Ontario is named for the airliner at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The "Avro Jetliner Private" street name also commemorates the aircraft at Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport.
Specifications Avro C102 Jetliner
Data from Avro Aircraft since 1908[15]
General characteristics
- Capacity: payload 12,700 lb (5,761 kg)[16]
- Length: 82 ft 5 in (25.12 m)
- Wingspan: 98 ft 1 in (29.90 m)
- Wing area: 1,097 sq ft (101.9 m2)
- Airfoil: root: NACA 23016.5; tip: NACA 23012[17]
- Empty weight: 27,427 lb (12,441 kg)
- Gross weight: 55,000 lb (24,948 kg)
- Powerplant: 4 × centrifugal-flow turbojetengines, 3,600 lbf (16 kN) thrust each (later fitted with 2x Derwent 8 {#2 & #4} and 2x Derwent 9 engines {#1 & #3})
Performance
- Maximum speed: 417 mph (671 km/h, 362 kn) at 30,000 ft (9,100 m)
- Cruise speed: 376 mph (605 km/h, 327 kn) at 30,000 ft (9,100 m)
- Range: 1,680 mi (2,700 km, 1,460 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 40,300 ft (12,300 m)
- Rate of climb: 2,220 ft/min (11.3 m/s)
- Wing loading: 51.86 lb/sq ft (253.2 kg/m2) [16]
See also
- Vickers VC.1 Viking – Nene Viking
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
- list of jet airliners
References
Notes
- ^ ISBN 0 919783 66 X,p.33
- ^ McArthur 2003, Roger's speech.
- ^ Campagna 2003, p. 26.
- ^ a b Campagna 2003, pp. 27–28.
- ^ Campagna 2003, p. 28.
- ^ a b Campagna 2003, p. 29
- ^ Winchester 2005, p. 68.
- ^ "Aviation Week 1948-11-01". November 1948.
- ^ a b c Floyd 1986, p. 143.
- ^ Floyd 1986, pp. 268, Appendix 2.
- ^ Floyd 1986, pp. 56, 63.
- ^ Flight p14, p22
- ISBN 0 919783 66 X, p.118
- ^ "AVRO CANADA C.102 JETLINER". Ingenium. Ingenium. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ Jackson, A.J. (1965). Avro Aircraft since 1908 (1st ed.). Putnam Aeronautical. p. 444.
- ^ a b Flight p22
- ^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
Bibliography
- Campagna, Palmiro. Requiem for a Giant. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2003. ISBN 1-55002-438-8.
- Floyd, Jim. The Avro Canada C102 Jetliner. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press, 1986. ISBN 0-919783-66-X.
- McArthur, Scott, ed. "Testing the Avro Jetliner." Arrow Recovery Canada, transcript of speech by Avro Canada C102 Jetliner test pilot Don Rogers, 2003. Retrieved: 27 June 2009.
- ISBN 0-07-082778-8.
- Winchester, Jim. "Avro Canada Jetliner." X-Planes and Prototypes. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. ISBN 1-904687-40-7.
- "Canadian Contender", Flight, 5 January 1950
External links
- Photos of the Avro Canada C-102 "Jetliner" (Canada Aviation Museum)
- Woe Canada: The only thing that kept Canada from beating the U.S. to a jet airliner was Canada, By Graham Chandler, Air & Space Magazine, 1 March 2009
- Avroland: The Avro C.102 Jetliner
- Arrow Recovery Canada: Avro Jetliner
- Avro Canada Jetliner
- The AVRO Jetliner – America's First Jet Transport – a 1950 Flight advertisement for the AVRO Jetliner
- "Jetliner's First Flight" a 1949 Flight news item