The Avro Type 688 Tudor was a British piston-engined airliner based on Avro's four-engine Lincoln bomber, itself a descendant of the famous Lancaster heavy bomber, and was Britain's first pressurised airliner. Customers saw the aircraft as little more than a pressurised DC-4 Skymaster, and few orders were forthcoming, important customers preferring to buy US aircraft. The tailwheel undercarriage layout was also dated and a disadvantage.
Variants
- 688 Tudor 1
- Production variant, 12 built, later conversion to other variants.
- 689 Tudor 2
- Stretched version, five built.
- 688 Tudor 3
- Tudor 1 modified by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft as executive transport aircraft. It could seat up to nine passengers, two built.
- 688 Tudor 4
- Stretched version of the Tudor 1 (but not the same as the Tudor 2 with the fuselage lengthened by only 6 ft/1.83 m). It could seat up to 32 passengers, 11 built.
- 688 Tudor 4B
- As Tudor 4 but retained the Tudor 1's flight engineers station. Small number of Tudor 1s were converted into Tudor 4Bs.
- 689 Tudor 5
- Tudor 2 for BSAA, powered by four 1,770 hp (1,320 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin 621 piston engines, six built. One aircraft crashed in 1950 killing 80 in the Llandow Air Disaster.
- 689 Tudor 6
- Ordered by the Argentinian airline FAMA, but the order was cancelled. None of the airframes were completed.
- 689 Tudor 7
- Tudor 2 fitted with four 1,750 hp (1,305 kW) Bristol Hercules 120 radial piston engines, one prototype only.
- 688 Tudor 8
- Jet-engined version of the Tudor 1. Tudor 1 VX195 was fitted with four Rolls-Royce Derwent Mk.V turbojet engines.
- Tudor 9
- Jet-engined version of the Tudor 2, became the 706 Ashton.
- Super Trader 4B
- Re-engined version, fitted with four 1,760 hp (1,312 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin 23 piston engines.
- Tudor Freighter 1
- Freight and cargo version, three aircraft were used by BOAC during the 1949 Berlin Airlift.
- 711 Trader
- Proposed freighter development of the Tudor 2 fitted with a tricycle landing gear; not built.
See Also
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Sources of Information