Heston JC.6

The Heston JC.6 was a British prototype air observation post aircraft.

The JC.6 was also known as the Heston A.2/45 or the Heston AOP.

Two aircraft were built.

The Heston JC.6 was designed and built to meet Air Ministry Specification A.2/45 for an “Air Observation Post” (AOP) for the British Army.

Heston Aircraft built two prototypes, the first, serial VL529, first flew in August 1947.

The second, serial VL530, was not flown.

The JC.6 was an all-metal cantilever monoplane with twin booms and two vertical tail surfaces joined by a single horizontal tailplane.

It was powered by a rear-mounted de Havilland Gipsy Queen six-cylinder aero engine fitted between the twin booms and driving a pusher propeller.

The two-seat tandem cockpit was covered with a large, glazed canopy.

The JC.6 had a tricycle landing gear and the mainplane was fitted with slots and flaps to give short take-off and landing performance.

During the evaluation trials the rival Auster AOP.6 had a better performance and was ordered into production.

Two further Heston JC.6s, serials VL531 and VL532, were not built.

A floatplane version was designed by Saunders-Roe as the Saro P.100 but was not built.

Specifications

Crew

2

Length

34 ft (10 m)

Wingspan

44 ft (13 m)

Height

9 ft (2.7 m)

Wing area

274 sq ft (25.5 m2)

Gross weight

3,050 lb (1,383 kg)

Powerplant

1 × de Havilland Gipsy Queen 33,

6-cylinder inverted air-cooled inline piston engine,

240 hp (180 kW)

Propellers

2-bladed constant speed propeller, 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) diameter

Performance

Maximum speed

125 mph (201 km/h, 109 kn)

Range

745 mi (1,199 km, 647 nmi)

Wing loading

11.3 lb/sq ft (55 kg/m2).