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Avro 504

Aircraft Overview

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’…

  • Manufacturer: Avro
  • First Flight: September 1913
  • Engine: 80 hp (60 kW) Gnome Lambda seven-cylinder rotary engine
  • Powerplant:
  • Max Speed: 95mph
  • Service Ceiling: 16,000 ft (4,900 m)
  • Range: 250 mi (400 km, 220 nmi)
  • Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)
  • Length: 29 ft 5 in (8.97 m)
  • Height: 10 ft 5 in (3.18 m)
  • Weight (Empty):
  • Weight (Loaded):
  • Crew: 2

Armament

1 fixed .303 Lewis atop upper wing (single-seat night fighter variants)

Operational History

Small numbers of early aircraft were purchased by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) prior to the start of the First World War, and were taken to France when the war started. One of the RFC aircraft was the first British aircraft to be shot down by the Germans, on 22 August 1914. The pilot was 2nd Lt. Vincent Waterfall and his navigator Lt Charles George Gordon Bayly (both of 5 Sqn RFC)[9][10] The RNAS used four 504s to form a special flight to bomb the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen on the shores of Lake Constance. Three set out from Belfort in north-eastern France on 21 November 1914, carrying four 20 lb (9 kg) bombs each. While one aircraft was shot down, the raid was successful, with several direct hits on the airship sheds and the destruction of the hydrogen generating plant.

Soon obsolete as a frontline aircraft, it came into its own as a trainer, with thousands being built during the war, with the major production types being the 504J and the mass production 504K, designed with modified engine bearers to accommodate a range of engines to cope with engine shortages. 8,340 Avro 504s had been produced by the end of 1918.

In the winter of 1917–18 it was decided to use converted 504Js and 504Ks to equip Home Defence squadrons of the RFC, replacing ageing B.E.2cs, which had poor altitude performance. These aircraft were modified as single-seaters, armed with a Lewis gun above the wing on a Foster mounting, and powered by 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome or 110 hp (82 kW) Le Rhône engines. 274 converted Avro 504Js and Ks were issued to eight home defence squadrons in 1918, with 226 still being used as fighters at the end of the First World War.