Avro Type F

The Avro Type F was an early single-seat British aircraft that on 1 May 1912 became the first aircraft in the world to fly with a completely enclosed cabin for the pilot as an integral part of the design. It was a wire-braced mid-wing monoplane with a tailskid undercarriage and a teardrop-shaped fuselage with flat sides and cellon windows. Because oil leakage from the engine had been expected to coat the cabin windows, two circular windows at head level could be opened for the pilot to look out, though this proved unnecessary, and the pilot entered through an aluminium trapdoor in the top of the fuselage. It made a few test flights in mid-1912 until damaged beyond repair in a hard landing on 13 September, and its Viale 35 hp engine is at the Science Museum in London.