AVRO 504
The first strategic bombing raid was conducted by Avro 504 biplanes in 1914 with an attack on the Zeppelin sheds at Friedrichshafen; later, the Avro 504 was also employed as a makeshift night-fighter in the UK. However this classic aeroplane’s major contribution to the war effort was its role as a training machine. Extensive orders resulted in 10,694 being built by Avro as well as a dozen sub-contractors during the conflict and by the time of the Armistice the Avro 504K was serving with almost every training unit of the RAF, both at home and abroad. The aeroplane soldiered on in service for many years afterwards: quoting the words of one pilot, the docile Avro was: ‘the supreme example of the aeroplane as a work of art’…