Avro Avian

The Avro Avian was a series of British light aircraft designed and built by Avro in the 1920s and 1930s. The prototype, the Avro 581, was built for the Lympne light aircraft trials of September 1926 with a 70 hp Armstrong Siddeley Genet engine, performed well but was eliminated by engine failure. Re-engined with an 85 hp ADC Cirrus it was sold to Bert Hinkler, and production aircraft were Type 594 mostly with Cirrus engines. The Avro 616 Avian IVM, with a welded steel tube fuselage, was built in the largest numbers, about 190. Outsold by the de Havilland Moth, the Avian was still used widely as a civil tourer or trainer, was built under licence in Canada and by Whittesley in the United States, and Guy Menzies flew one from Australia to New Zealand in January 1931.