The Avro 504 was a First World War 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 any military capacity during the First World War. More than 10,000 were built from 1913 until production ended in 1932.
Role: Trainer, Fighter, Bomber
Manufacturer: Avro
First flight: 18 September 1913
Introduction: 1913
Retired: 1934
Primary users: Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service
Produced: 1913–1932
Number built: 11,303 including Japanese, Soviet and other foreign production
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 29 ft 5 in (8.97 m)
Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)
Height: 10 ft 5 in (3.18 m)
Wing area: 330 sq ft (31 m2)
Empty weight: 1,231 lb (558 kg)
Gross weight: 1,829 lb (830 kg)
Fuel capacity: 25.5 imp gal (31 US gal; 116 l) fuel ; 6 imp gal (7 US gal; 27 l) castor oil
Powerplant: 1 × Le Rhône 9J 9-cylinder air-cooled rotary piston engine, 110 hp (82 kW)
Propellers: 2-bladed Avro fixed-pitch wooden propeller, 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m) diameter 8 ft 8 in (2.6 m) pitch
Performance
Maximum speed: 95 mph (153 km/h, 83 kn) at sea level
87 mph (76 kn; 140 km/h) at 8,000 ft (2,438 m)
85 mph (74 kn; 137 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
Cruise speed: 74 mph (119 km/h, 64 kn) at 75% power at 8,000 ft (2,438 m)
71 mph (62 kn; 114 km/h) at 75% power at 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
Stall speed: 40 mph (64 km/h, 35 kn)
Range: 250 mi (400 km, 220 nmi)
Endurance
2 hours at sea level at maximum speed
2 hours 8 minutes at 8,000 ft (2,438 m) at maximum speed
3 hours at 10,000 ft (3,048 m) at maximum speed
3 hours 42 minutes at 8,000 ft (2,438 m) at cruise speed
4 hours 15 minutes at 10,000 ft (3,048 m) at cruise speed
Service ceiling: 16,000 ft (4,900 m)
Rate of climb: 700 ft/min (3.6 m/s)
Time to altitude:
3,500 ft (1,067 m) in 5 minutes
8,000 ft (2,438 m) in 10 minutes
10,000 ft (3,048 m) in 16 minutes
Wing loading: 5.54 lb/sq ft (27.0 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.06 hp/lb (0.099 kW/kg)
Armament
1 fixed .303 Lewis atop upper wing (single-seat night fighter variants)
Avro (an initialism of the founder’s name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the delta wing Avro Vulcan, a stalwart of the Cold War.
Avro was founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe at the Brownsfield Mill on Great Ancoats Street in Manchester. The company remained based primarily in Lancashire throughout its 53 years of existence, with key development and manufacturing sites in Alexandra Park, Chadderton, Trafford Park, and Woodford, Greater Manchester. The company was merged into Hawker Siddeley Aviation in 1963, although the Avro name has been used for some aircraft since then.
