The Avro Club Cadet was a 1930s single-engined British

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...

, designed and built by Avro as a development of the earlier

Cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

. It was planned for private and club use and, unlike the Cadet, was fitted with folding wings.

Design and development

The Avro 638 Club Cadet was a modified version of the

Avro Cadet The Avro Cadet is a single-engined British biplane trainer designed and built by Avro in the 1930s as a smaller development of the Avro Tutor for civil use. Design and development The Avro 631 Cadet was developed in 1931 as a smaller, more ...

, similarly intended for both private and club use. The Club Cadet was fitted with unstaggered wings, that could be folded to help save hangar space; the staggered biplane wings of the earlier Cadet were unsuitable to be adapted for folding. The prototype flew in May 1933, powered by an

Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major The Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major is a British five-cylinder (later seven-cylinder), air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft, designed and built by Armstrong Siddeley and first run in 1928. It developed 140 horsepower (104 kW). In Royal ...

radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric), a line * Radius, adjective form of * Radial distance, a directional coordinate in a polar coordinate system * Radial set * A bearing from ...

piston engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common fea ...

, another 16 were built, and production finished in 1935. A single prototype of an enclosed three-seat cabin version, the Avro 639 Cabin Cadet was built, and first flew in 1933, but did not enter production. A second three-seat version, the Avro 640 Cadet, was produced for joy-riding work, with a widened fuselage accommodating an open cockpit for two passengers side by side in front of the pilot. Nine of these were built, the first four powered by 140 hp (104 kW)

Cirrus Hermes The Cirrus and Hermes or Cirrus-Hermes are a series of British aero engines manufactured, under various changes of ownership, from the 1920s until the 1950s. The engines were all air-cooled, four-cylinder inline types, with earlier ones upright an ...

IV engines, and the remaining five powered by Genet Major engines.

Operational history

Most Club Cadets were used by flying schools, although intended for private as well as club use, the largest user being

Airwork Airwork is an aviation business based in Auckland, New Zealand. The Airwork Group is New Zealand's largest general aviation company. It focuses on fixed wing and helicopter maintenance, leasing, and operations working with private and public e ...

, that operated five Club Cadets. These were later re-engined with 130 hp (100 kW)

de Havilland Gipsy Major The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft produced in the 1930s, including the famous Tiger Moth biplane. Many Gipsy Major engines still power vinta ...

engines; the air-cooled in-line inverted engines reduced drag, and gave improved fuel consumption.

Variants

;Avro 638 Club Cadet :Two-seat trainer aircraft, powered by 135 hp (101 kW) Genet Major (radial) or 130 hp (100 kW) Gipsy Major I (inverted in-line) engine, 17 built. ;Avro 638 Club Cadet Special :One aircraft, fitted with a 140 hp (104 kW) Cirrus Hermes IVA inverted in-line engine. ;Avro 639 Cabin Cadet :Enclosed cockpit, one built. ;Avro 640 Cadet :Three seat joyriding aircraft, powered by 140 hp (104 kW) Cirrus Hermes IV inverted in-line (first four aircraft) or 135 hp (101 kW) Genet Major engine, nine built.

Operators

; *

Specifications (Avro 638 Genet Major I)

References

External links

Canadian Aviation Museum
– British Aircraft of World War II {{avro aircraft

638 __NOTOC__ Year 638 ( DCXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 638 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calenda ...

Biplanes 1930s British civil trainer aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933