The Avro 618 Ten or X was a passenger transport aircraft of the 1930s. It was a licensed version by Avro of the Fokker F.VIIB/3m.
Development
In 1928 Avro came to an arrangement with Fokker to license production of its successful F.VIIB/3m for sale in the British Empire. The Avro designation 618 Ten was adopted as the aircraft was capable of carrying two crew and eight passengers. After a modification of the centre motor mounting to accommodate British airworthiness requirements, the aircraft was first displayed at the 1929 Olympia Aero Show. The Avro 642 Eighteen used the same wing as the Ten but had a new fuselage for 16 passengers.
Operational history
Australia
The first five aircraft were sold to the new Australian National Airways. The type entered service on 1 January 1930 on the Brisbane-Sydney route, and later Melbourne-Sydney. They were: Two of this fleet were lost in accidents: Southern Cloud in the Toolong range of the Australian Alps on 21 March 1931 and Southern Sun in Malaya in November 1931, while attempting the first airmail flight to the United Kingdom. The airline folded and the remaining aircraft were sold. Southern Moon was rebuilt in 1933 for long-range flights, fitted with 330 hp Wright Whirlwind radial engines and restyled as VH-UXX Faith in Australia. The last surviving 618 Ten in Australia, it evacuated many people from New Guinea in 1941. Another two 618 Ten aircraft were also sold to Australian companies. Three of the 619 Five aircraft went to two Australian airlines, as did the sole 642/2m.
On 30 December 1933, G-ABLU Apollo of Imperial Airways collided with a radio mast and crashed at Ruysselede, Belgium, killing all ten on board.
Avro X, 'Southern Cloud', crashed whilst en route from Sydney to Melbourne on 21 March 1931, with two crew and eight passengers, but with no survivors. The wreckage was located by chance, off course and facing in the wrong direction, in October 1958 by Thomas Sonter, a NZ carpenter employed by the Snowy Mountains Scheme, whilst he was hiking.
Variants
Type 618 Ten : Ten-seat civil transport aircraft. Fourteen built.
Type 619 Five : Five-seat civil transport aircraft. Scaled-down version of Avro Ten. Three 105 hp Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major 1 engines. Four aircraft built.
Type 624 Six : Six-seat civil transport aircraft. Revised version of Avro Five with accommodation for two pilots and four passengers. Three Genet engines again, but the outer engines in fairings merged into the underside of the wings. Three aircraft built.
