Sponsored by the Ministry of Supply (MoS), Avro Tudor 8VXI95 was a dramatic departure from previous versions of its kind. Instead of the familiar Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engines it was powered by four 5,000lb/thrust Rolls-Royce Nene Mk.4 turbojets and, when it first flew on September 6, I948,AV Roe and Company (Avro) entered the jet age. The maiden flight was performed from Woodford airfield in Cheshire by Avro's Chief Test Pilot J H 'Jimmy' Orrell and when VX195 appeared at Farnborough's SBAC Show later that month the aircraft was billed as "the world's first four-engined jet-powered transport." But the reality was far removed. The aircraft would never carry passengers and its pressurised fuselage was actually intended for research into problems of flying large jets at high altitudes and speeds. VXI95 had already led a varied life having originally been the second prototype Tudor I (G-AGST/TT181 ) and then rebuilt as a Mk.4 before being converted again to jet power Much of its jet-powered career was spent at Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough undergoing trials, including development of new instruments and evaluation of cabin combustion heaters.
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