Avro Atlantic

Avro

Industry	Aerospace
Founded	1910
Founder	Alliott Verdon Roe
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Key people	Sir Roy Dobson (Managing Director), Stuart Davies (Chief Designer)
Products	Aircraft, including planned Avro Atlantic airliner concept

The Avro Atlantic (Avro 722) represented a planned commercial airliner concept derived from the British Avro Vulcan strategic bomber. This design emerged in response to a 1952 UK Ministry of Supply specification seeking a versatile aircraft capable of fulfilling both military and civilian long-distance missions. Alongside the Atlantic, civilian adaptations of the Vickers Valiant and Handley Page Victor V-bomber models were also proposed under the same initiative. Ultimately, the Vickers V-1000 secured the contract over the Atlantic; however, none of these aircraft proceeded to production.

Development

In early June 1953, Sir Roy Dobson C.B.E., then Managing Director of A.V. Roe and Company, disclosed that Avro was developing a concept for a 100-ton airliner based on the Vulcan platform. The initial design envisioned accommodating a flight crew comprising five personnel (pilot, co-pilot, navigator, and two engineering officers) alongside between 76 and 113 passengers arranged in one of three configurations—luxury, standard, or tourist. The aircraft was intended to cruise at speeds exceeding 600 mph (520 kn; 970 km/h) (approximately Mach 0.9) within a pressurised cabin maintaining an equivalent altitude of 8,000 ft (2,400 m) at a cruising altitude of 45,000 ft (14,000 m). During this period, Avro’s chief designer following the passing of Roy Chadwick was Stuart Davies.

File:Avro 722 Atlantic top-view silhouette.png

Planform view illustrating the original wing with straight leading edge

The powerplant options considered for the Atlantic included either the Rolls-Royce Olympus or Rolls-Royce Conway engines. Contemporary artist renderings depicted passengers seated in two rows, two abreast, within a fuselage measuring approximately 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter. Seating was arranged facing rearwards along a central aisle for enhanced safety. Early visualisations and scale models at 1/24 size showed the aircraft featuring the Vulcan’s original wing shape with a straight swept-back leading edge; however, a revision in 1955 introduced the Phase 2 ‘kinked’ leading edge to mitigate aerodynamic buffet during flight. The Atlantic was projected to be completed by 1958, with preliminary discussions conducted with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) to assess its commercial feasibility. Avro reportedly considered producing a civilian Vulcan derivative as 'inevitable' during 1954–55 but insisted on securing an initial commitment for at least 25 units before initiating manufacture—a prerequisite that was not met.

See also

• Concorde, an Anglo-French supersonic airliner known for its financial challenges, featuring Olympus engines and a delta wing configuration, with an empty weight close to 78 tons and a passenger capacity comparable to this aircraft.