ABC Robin
title: "ABC Robin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["high-wing-aircraft", "single-engined-tractor-aircraft", "1920s-british-civil-utility-aircraft", "abc-motors-aircraft", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1929"] topic_path: "arts/film" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_Robin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Robin |
| image | A.B.C.Robin.jpg |
| type | Cabin monoplane |
| manufacturer | ABC Motors Limited |
| designer | Anthony "Tony" Archibald Fletcher |
| first_flight | 1929 |
| retired | 1932 |
| number_built | 1 |
| status | Scrapped |
| :: |
|name = Robin |image = A.B.C.Robin.jpg |caption = |type = Cabin monoplane |manufacturer = ABC Motors Limited |designer = Anthony "Tony" Archibald Fletcher |first_flight = 1929 |introduction = |retired = 1932 |produced = |number_built = 1 |status = Scrapped |unit cost = |primary_user = |more_users = |developed_from = |variants =
The ABC Robin was a British single-seat light aircraft designed by A. A. (Tony) Fletcher in 1929. It was a high-wing, single-seat monoplane of conventional taildragger configuration. The cockpit was fully enclosed, the first lightplane to be so equipped in Britain. It was designed at the request of T. A. Dennis (managing director) specifically to use the firm's 30–40 h.p. Scorpion engine.
Construction was primarily of wood with metal confined to fittings and a few highly stressed parts. The fuselage was constructed as a wooden box consisting of four spruce longerons with thin plywood covering with light internal bulkheads. The wood-framed wings, of RAF 34 section, were hinged at their inner rear corners to the top of the fuselage and supported by tubular struts in 'Vee' formation to the lower longerons of the fuselage. The tail was also wood-framed and both wings and tail were covered with doped fabric.
The Robin, registered G-AAID, was built by ABC Motors Limited at Hersham in 1929. Its first flight was made at Brooklands in June and it was displayed at the Olympia Aero Show in July. ABC had no aircraft manufacturing facilities, so production aircraft were intended to be made by S. E. Saunders at East Cowes, Isle of Wight. Marketing was taken seriously, with the aircraft painted in the colours of National Flying Services (NFS) from whom an order was anticipated, and it was featured in the NFS 1929 Annual.
The aircraft was modified later in 1929 with the windscreen moved back to allow access to the fuel filler caps from the outside, and with an enlarged fin and rudder. It was granted its certificate of airworthiness in June 1930 and a week later took part in the King's Cup Air Race, but it dropped out with engine problems, which were common with the Scorpion engine. Unfortunately, due to the Great Depression, there was no demand for the aircraft and the sole Robin built was scrapped at Brooklands in 1932.
Specifications
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/ABC_Robin_3-view_Aero_Digest_January,1930.png" caption="ABC Robin 3-view drawing from Aero Digest January,1930"] ::
|ref=The Aeroplane 12 July 1928 – Performance figures are estimates |prime units?=imp |genhide= |crew=one |capacity= |length m=5.28 |length ft=17 |length in=4 |length note= |span m=7.72 |span ft=25 |span in=4 |span note= |height m=1.73 |height ft=5 |height in=9 |height note= |wing area sqm=10.23 |wing area sqft=110 |wing area note= |aspect ratio= 5.83 |airfoil=RAF-34 |empty weight kg=188 |empty weight lb=415 |empty weight note= |gross weight kg=308 |gross weight lb=680 |gross weight note= |more general= |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=ABC Scorpion II |eng1 type=piston engine |eng1 kw=30 |eng1 hp=40 |eng1 note= |prop blade number= |prop name= |prop dia m= |prop dia ft= |prop dia in= |prop dia note= |perfhide= |max speed kmh=169 |max speed mph=105 |max speed kts=91 |max speed note= |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed kts= |cruise speed note= |stall speed kmh= |stall speed mph= |stall speed kts= |stall speed note= |range km=545 |range miles=340 |range nmi=295 |range note= |endurance= |ceiling m=5,200 |ceiling ft=17,000 |ceiling note= |g limits= |climb rate ms=3.8 |climb rate ftmin=750 |climb rate note= |time to altitude=
Notes
References
References
- (November 1978). "none". Air Progress.
- ''Flight'' 30 May 1929 page 441 et seq
- (2000). "British Light Aeroplanes". GMS Enterproses.
- "National Flying Services Aircraft Types 1929".
- "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage".
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