Avro Triplane IV (replica)

In the formative years of aviation, the majority of aircraft designs were monoplanes or biplanes and aerodynamic refinements often came about empirically. Following a lack of success with his first canard biplane design due to a lack of power from the only available engine, A.V. Roe, one of Britain’s most noted aviation pioneers (and earlier a builder of successful model aeroplanes), decided that the triplane layout could provide greater lift and a lighter structure for a given wing area.

Roe designed and built four separate triplane types, which flew with increasing success and were used mainly for test and development. The final type, the Roe IV, which had an increased wingspan and, unlike the earlier versions, a non-lifting monoplane tail, was used for instructional purposes at the Avro Flying School, at Brooklands, several times coming into intimate contact with the sewage farm.

About this aircraft

This machine was built by the Hampshire Aeroplane Club at Eastleigh, Southampton for the film, ‘Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines’ (1965). It is powered by an upright four cylinder in line ADC Cirrus III engine which is of a similar configuration to the original’s 35hp Green.

The Shuttleworth Collection was closely involved with the making of the film and as this reproduction is largely true to the original, of considerable technical interest and an impressive flyer, the Trustees decided in 1966 that it was worth acquiring. Like other Collection aircraft of its era it is flown sedately and only in calm weather. There is an original, earlier type, Roe Triplane in the Science Museum.

Specification