Avro 730

British Supersonic Bomber Concept (1956)

Scale: 1/72
Initial Release: 2005
Re-Release: 2008
Medium: Resin
Kit Rarity: 3

About the Design

In 1955, Britain's Avro company began to develop plans for a high-altitude Mach 2.5 reconnaissance aircraft. Several configurations were examined, but all centered around a straight-wing design featuring a thoroughly enclosed cockpit with no windscreen to reduce drag, large canards, and two engine nacelles, each containing multiple power plants. (Early plans called for wing-tip nacelles, but these were later moved closer to the fuselage.) A retractable periscope would be used to aid the pilot with take-offs and landings.

By December 1956 the final design had been developed. The plane would carry a crew of two--a pilot and a navigator--who would sit by-by-side.  Each nacelle would contain four Armstrong-Siddeley P.176 engines.  And, most important of all, the plane could also function as a bomber, carrying either a specially designed short-course weapon or Britain's Red Beard tactical bomb.

Unfortunately, the Avro 730 project was cancelled in 1957, a victim of the U.K.'s infamous Defense White Paper.

About the Kit

The Avro 730 was the first model kitted by Fantastic Plastic Models. Mastered by Scott Lowther and cast by Controlled Energy Designs, the kit had 17 pieces and decals by JBOT.
A "desktop" model, the Avro 730 is designed to be displayed in the in-flight, wheels-up configuration. A display stand, inspired by the classic Aurora stands of the 1960s, was also created for this kit and is still available for use with other, similarly sized models.

The Avro 730 went out of production in early 2007, but was resurrected in December 2008 as a virtually new kit. Not only were the original fuselage, body and engine pieces rescribed, but the kit was upgraded to include a detailed cockpit with hatch, landing gear and bay doors, and a bomb bay featuring a "Red Beard" tactical nuclear bomb.