Avro Tutor

The Avro 504 had been training pilots of the Royal Air Force for over 15 years and it was now time to look for its successor. This would be in the shape of another Avro aircraft, the Tutor, which had been designed by Roy Chadwick.

Powered by the 155-hp Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose IIIA engine the prototype made its first flight in September 1929 with Captain Harry Brown at the controls. Three months later the Tutor prototype would undergo comparative trials at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Martlesham Heath.

After undergoing trials, which saw the Tutor pitted against other aircraft, the Royal Air Force made the decision to order 21 aircraft during 1930. Built to Specification 3/30 the early Tutors would be powered by the same 155-hp Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose IIIA engine as the prototype, with most of the aircraft built after the initial 21 powered by the 240-hp Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IVC engine. Another order followed from the RAF for 394 aircraft and these would be built to a different specification as the first 21, 18/31.

The Avro Tutor had a top speed of 120 mph, range of 250 miles, service ceiling of 16,000 ft and was unarmed and would start to enter Royal Air Force service during October 1931 with No. 3 Flying Training School based at RAF Spitalgate. 1933 would see the Central Flying School based at RAF Wittering receive their deliveries of the aircraft, becoming the RAF's standard elementary trainer.

With the introduction into service of the Miles Magister during October 1937 this was to take over the role as the standard elementary trainer in the Royal Air Force. Some Tutors would still be in service at the outbreak of the Second World War (1939 – 1945), but by 1944 the Tutor's service in the RAF was all but over, with the last Avro Tutor struck off charge on the 4th September 1946.

Additionally a naval version of the Tutor fitted with twin floats was built to Specification 26/34 and was called the Avro Sea Tutor. Between 1934 and 1936 fifteen Sea Tutors were delivered to either the Seaplane Training School based at RAF Calshot or to Felixstowe to undergo waterborne tests. By April 1938 the last Sea Tutors were removed from service.

To target the export market during 1930 Avro developed the Prefect, based on the Tutor, with 198 being brought by a number of air forces overseas including seven for the Royal Air Force for air navigation training.

When production of the Tutor ended in May 1936, 795 examples had been built, including civil versions, with other users of the type including the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Tutor at Shuttleworth