Hordern-Richmond Autoplane
type of aircraft
The Hordern-Richmond Autoplane was a 1930s British twin engined two seat cabin touring monoplane designed by Edmund Hordern, and constructed by Heston Aircraft Company Ltd.
Development
The Autoplane was designed by Edmund G. Hordern in collaboration with Frederick Duke of Richmond and Gordon, and built in 1936 by Heston Aircraft Company at Heston Aerodrome near London. The aircraft was planned to be manufactured and marketed by Hordern-Richmond Aircraft Ltd that was formed by the co-designers in April 1937.
Construction was primarily wooden, with plywood skinned frames. The wings were cantilever, and could be folded outboard of the engines. The fixed main undercarriage legs were inline with the engines, with no brakes and a simple tail skid. The Autoplane was fitted with a control system by which all manoeuvres could be carried out using one hand. At the top of each of the normal control columns there was a small wheel which took the place of the more usual rudder bar or pedals. No wing flaps or pilot-operated trimmers were provided.
Operational history
Registered G-AEOG, an Authorisation to Fly was issued on 16 October 1936, and the Autoplane was piloted by Edmund Hordern on its first flight at Heston Aerodrome on 28 October 1936.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hordern-Richmond Autoplane” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.