Warplane #2-Avro 504

Role : Trainer,Fighter,Bomber

Manufacturer : Avro

First Flight : 18th september 1913

Introduced : 1913

Retired : 1934

Primary users : Royal Flying Corps

                                Royal Naval Air Service

Produced : 1913 - 1932

Number Built : 8970

Description :

         The Avro 504 was a World War I biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the War totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind that served in World War I, in any military capacity, during that conflict. Over 10,000 would be built from 1913 to the time production ended in 1932.

Development : 

       Produced by Alliott Verdon Roe, Britain's great pioneering aircraft designer, the Avro 504 trained nearly every British pilot in the Great War; over 8,000 were built. Especially suitable for the purpose of training pilots, it was the standard training machine of the Royal Air Force.  The plane's diagnostic feature is the the big wing skid, hanging down between the wheels; it served to protect the prop if landing with the tail too high.

      Roe began building planes in 1906, he became the first Englishman to fly, at Brooklands in July 1908. 

      After considerable experimentation with biplanes and triplanes, Roe produced the E500 biplane in 1912 that met with War Department approval; 12 were ordered within a year. The Avro 504 developed directly from the E500 machine. It moved rapidly into production, first flying in July, 1913. A graceful, two-seater biplane, it's equal-span wings balanced the fuselage, whose box-girder body blended into to the circular housing for the 80 HP Gnome rotary engine. The 504 took fourth place in the Second Aerial Derby on September 20, flying at 66.5 MPH.
As war loomed in 1914, the War Department ordered twelve Avro 504s and even more after hostilities started. A 504 achieved the unenviable distinction of being the first English aircraft shot down in combat, when Lt. V. Waterfall of No. 5 Squadron, flying an Avro 504 over Belgium went down under infantry fire.

 

Specifications(Avro 504)

General Characteristics :

• Crew: 2
• Length: 29 ft 5 in (8.97 m)
• Wingspan: 36 ft (10.97 m)
• Height: 10 ft 5 in (3.17 m)
• Wing area: 330 ft² (30.7 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,231 lb (558 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 1,829 lb (830 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Le Rhône Rotary, 110 hp (82 kW)

Performance :

• Maximum speed: 90 mph (145 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 75 mph (126 km/h)
• Range: 250 mi (402 km)
• Service ceiling: 16,000 ft (4,875 m)
• Rate of climb: 700 ft/min (3.6 m/s)
• Wing loading: 5.54 lb/ft² (18.2 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.06 hp/lb (0.099 kW/kg)
• Climb to 3,500 ft (1,065 m) in 5 min

Operations :

     
      Small numbers of early aircraft were purchased both by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) prior to the start of World War I, 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 RNAS used four 504s to form a special flight in order 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 destroying the hydrogen plant.

Soon obsolete as a front-line aircraft, it came into its own as a trainer, with thousands being built in the war, with major production types being the 504J and the mass production 504K, which was designed with modified engine bearers to accommodate a range of engines, in order 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 (80 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 World War I.

Following the end of the war, while the type continued in service as the standard trainer of the RAF, large numbers of surplus aircraft were available for sale, both for civil and military use. More than 300 504Ks were placed on the civil register in Britain. Being used for training, pleasure flying and banner towing, civil 504s continued flying in large numbers until well into the 1930s.

Although Avro 504s sold to China were training versions, they participated in battles among warlords by acting as bombers with pilot dropping hand grenades and modified mortar shells.

The improved, redesigned and radial engined 504N was produced by Avro in 1925. After evaluation of two prototypes powered by Bristol Lucifer and Armstrong-Siddeley Lynx engines respectively, the Lynx powered aircraft was selected by the RAF to replace the 504K. 592 were built between 1925 and 1932, equipping the RAF's five flying training schools, while also being used as communication aircraft. The 504N was also exported to the militaries of Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Greece, Thailand and South Africa, with licenced production taking place in Denmark, Belgium, Canada and Japan.             

The 504N was finally replaced in 1933 by the Avro Tutor in RAF service, with small numbers continuing in civilian use until 1940, when seven were impressed into RAF service, where they were used for target- and glider-towing.

The 504 was the first airplane to strafe troops on the ground as well as the first to make a bombing raid over Germany. It was also the first Allied airplane to be downed by enemy anti-aircraft fire and was Billy Bishop's first army aircraft.

The 504 is easily recognisable because of the single skid between the wheels.

The Friedrichshafen Raid

    Avro 504 biplanes participated in a more successful event on Nov. 21, 1914 when Sqn. Cdr. E.F. Briggs, Flt Lt. S.V. Sippe, and Flt. Cdr J.T. Babbington led some RNAS machines on a bombing raid on the Zeppelin sheds at Lake Constance.  At 09:30 AM, three brand-new, untested Manchester-built machines, flown by Briggs (in a/c number 874), Babington (873) and Sippé (875), took off from Belfort, France.  Avro 504 piloted by Flt Sub-Lt R P Cannon broke its tailskid and was forced to abort. Flying around neutral Switzerland, the three machines flew over Lake Constance to Friedrichshafen, a distance of 125 miles, and caught the Germans completely unawares, dropping 20-lb pounds. 

 

I imagine the "guy in back" tossing them over the side like deadly grapefruits. It was a sensational raid, although the Germans were secretive about the damage they suffered. Briggs was shot down when flying low over the sheds; he was taken prisoner and managed to escape two year later. His companions completed the round trip in about four hours. All three pilots were awarded the Distinguished Service Order, Gazetted on 1 January 1915.
Like the story of any aircraft, the story of the Avro 504 is the story of its development through many letter-denoted variants: 504A through 504R. (The plain "504" signified the 1914 protoype and first production version.)  The 504K was the main production version, with thousands built.