Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Single-seat ultra-light monoplane

Power Plant:

(G-EBMB) One 25 kw (34 hp) [1,100 cc] British Anzani three-cylinder air-cooled radial engine

(G-EBJH) One 25 kw (34 hp) [1,500 cc] ABC Scorpion two-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

The Royal Aero Club of Great Britain in 1924 organised a competition amongst designers of the time to build a light aircraft suitable for weekend pilots. A prize of £3,000 ($6,000) was offered, and one of the entrants was the Cygnet designed by Sidney Camm, who later became Chief Designer at H G Hawker Engineering Company Ltd, becoming famous for designing, amongst other aircraft, the Hawker Hurricane.

Two examples of the Cygnet were built at the time G-EBMB (c/n 2) and G-EBJH (c/n 1) and on completion they were entered in the competition trials held at Lympne in Kent, being entered respectively by Messrs T O M Sopwith and Frederick Sigrist, and flown by Messrs W H Longton and F P Raynham as Aircraft Nos 14 and 15, coming 4th and 3rd respectively.

In 1925 G-EBMB was entered in the 161 km (100 miles) International Handicap Race, on this occasion being flown by P W S Bulman, winning at a speed of 121.66 km/h (75.6 mph). It also, on the same occasion, came 2nd in the 80 km (50 miles) Light Aeroplane Race.

Both Cygnet aircraft were entered in further competitions in 1926 held in September.

The fuselage was constructed with four longerons and braced in the form of a Warren girder by diagonal struts. The struts were attached to the longerons by three-ply gussets riveted and screwed into position. The fuselage decking was cambered and the sides and bottom were flat. The nose decking and the area between the cabanes was three-ply, the fuselage side bays were braced with tie rods, and crosswire bracing was used in the cross frames. The wings had box spars with spruce flanges and three-ply webs, and were covered in fabric. The rear spars were stiffened with duralumin channel section. The undercarriage was braced V-type with rubber shock-cord absorbing. The aircraft had folding wings for storage. Emphasis was on saving weight and only a few metal fittings were used.

The two Cygnets originally constructed were identical, but had different engines: G-EBMB was fitted with a 25 kw (34 hp) British Anzani three cylinder radial engine, whereas G-EBJH had a 25 kw (34 hp) ABC Scorpion two-cylinder engine.

In about 1926 G-EBJH was acquired by the RAE Aero Club and at about that time both Cygnets were fitted with the Bristol Cherub III engine providing 24 kw (32 hp). G-EBMB continued to race until March 1929 when its Certificate of Airworthiness expired and it was placed into storage. It was returned to airworthiness in 1950 and was flown frequently after that until presented to the Royal Air Force (RAF) Museum at Hendon in Greater London where it was placed in the Sydney Camm Memorial Hall. G-EBJH crashed on take-off at Lympne whilst attempting a non-stop flight from the United Kingdom to Bucharest in Romania on 1 November 1927.

In the 1980s a replica of a Cygnet was being built by Mr M Holloway of Connells Point, NSW but it is not known if it was completed and flown.

A replica was built in the 1990s in the United Kingdom G-CAMM (c/n PFA 077-10245) fitted with a 26 kw (35 hp) Mosler two-cylinder engine, making its first flight on 13 March 1993.