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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 2002.PDF
THE AVRO 504 . . . centre of balance, was passed up over the metal tube and fixed to the cross member of tlie front seat tank bearer, for it must be remembered that in those days the front seat was on top of the petrol tank. A pulley on the rope enabled the observer to sling the gun up into mid-air and fire it all round as well as back over the pilot's head, with the aid of a stock from the shoulder." On October 22nd, 1914, Strange and Penn-Gaskell carried out what was probably the first ground-strafing attack of the war, when they brought the Avro's Lewis gun into action against a train and enemy troops at Perenchies siding. Exactly one month later Lt. Strange, with Lt. F. G. Small as his observer, forced down an Albatros two-seater near Neuve-Eglise. Military actions in which the Avro 504 took part were few, but the most audacious and brilliant by far was the R.N.A.S. raid on the Zeppelin sheds at Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance. While Strange and Penn-Gaskell were strafing Perenchies in No. 383, Lt. Noel Pemberton Billing of the R.N.V.R. was on his way to Belfort to prepare for the attack: he arrived there on October 24th, 1914. When his preparations were complete he . returned to England on October 28th to collect the aeroplanes and pilots for the execution of the raid. A special flight of four Avro 504s had been formed at Man chester under Sqn. Cdr. P. Shepherd, and the pilots were Sqn. Cdr. E. F. Briggs, Fit. Cdr. J. T. Babington, Fit. Lt. S. V. Sippe and Fit. Sub-Lt. R. P. Cannon. The Avros, officers and eleven air mechanics arrived at Belfort by night on November 13th, 1914. Soon after their arrival Sqn. Cdr. Shepherd was taken ill; the . weather was bad, and a strong easterly wind delayed the attack for a week. On Saturday, November 21st, the weather improved sufficiently for the raid to take place, and the Avros were brought out for engine and bomb-rack tests. The aeroplanes were brand-new: they were, in fact, the first four Avros to be delivered to the Admiralty, and were numbered 179, 873, 874 and 875. Their 80 h.p. Gnome engines were not new, however, which was prob ably why no test flights had been made with the aircraft; the raid itself was their first flight. There was at that time no such thing as a standard bomb-rack, and the Avro company designed and made the racks for the four machines. Mr. A. V. (now Sir Alliott Verdon) Roe said they were "a Heath Robinson job," but they served well enough in the event. Stowage was provided for four 20-lb high explosive bombs and four incendiaries, but for the raid each aircraft carried only four 20-lb bombs. The Avros left Belfort at five-minute intervals. Sqn. Cdr. Briggs was first to go on No. 873, followed by Babington on 875 and Sippe on 874: Cannon's machine broke its tail-skid and was unable to take off. Over the target Sippe's fourth bomb refused to leave the rack, but two of the eleven which dropped in the target area did all that was necessary. These fell on the FLIGHT, 9 July 1954 43 (Top) Avro 504A—one of SO such machines built by bleriot and Spad. Beneath, Avro 504B—one of 10 built by A.V. Roe. airship sheds. One damaged a Zeppelin which was inside; the other destroyed the gas-works, which exploded and did great damage. The raiders did not escape unscathed, for Briggs was shot down and nearly lynched after crashing. No. 875 was later on the strength of No. 1 Squadron, R.N.A.S., but did not return from a raid on enemy positions on February 16th, 1915 : its pilot on that occasion was Fit. Lt. E. G. Rigall. The Avro 504 was less successful against the Zeppelin in its own element. The L.Z.38 was intercepted by Fit. Sub-Lt. Mulock of Westgate R.N.A.S. Station about 3.30 a.m. on May 17th, 1915, but the airship climbed away too rapidly to allow Mulock to attack with his Avro's load of two grenades and two incendiary bombs. That same night, soon after Mulock's adventure, Fit. Cdr. A. W. Bigsworth, in another Avro, was pursuing the L.Z.39 towards Ostend. At 10,000ft over the town he was 200ft above the airship, and he dropped his four 20-lb bombs on it. Smoke issued from the Zeppelin's stern, but it was not destroyed. Ultimately, and in a damaged condition, it made a rough landing at Evere. With the standardization of the B.E.2C the Avro ceased to be a front-line aircraft with the R.F.C., but continued in limited service with the R.N.A.S. In point of fact, the Avro company were at one time told that they would have to stop making 504s, which were regarded as obsolete, and undertake the manufacture of B.E.2Cs: production of the Avros might continue until instruc tions for the building of the B.E.s were issued. Fortunately, those instructions were never forthcoming. The basic design was modified in detail as time went on, and each successive variant was identified by the addition of a suffix letter to the Avro's type number. The 504A retained the 80 h.p. Gnome engine, but had ailerons of reduced span and interplane struts of broader chord. On some 504As the lower wing-roots were uncovered for about 12 inches on either side in order to improve the downward view. The tailskid remained attached to the bottom of the rudder. The first true 504As were the fifty machines numbered 2890-2939, but the designation is some times loosely applied to the 63 production 504s which had preceded them. The 504A was built in considerable numbers. As part of the natural sequence of events, the Avro was relegated to training duties after its withdrawal from active ser vice. Dual control had to be installed, and Avro's designed a neat dual control unit comprising seats, bearers, control columns, rudder bars and heel rests. This unit could be assembled separately and inserted complete into the fuselage. Trainer ver sions of the Avro 504 design were issued to training units from 1915 onwards. The next sub-type, the Avro 504B, was an R.N.A.S. version. It set a new fashion, followed in all subsequent R.N.A.S. Avro 504 variants, by having a plain rudder attached to a large low aspect-ratio fin. The 504B reverted to the long ailerons, which also remained standard on R.N.A.S. Avros, and there were quadrantal cutouts at the trailing edge of the lower wing-roots. On the first 504Bs the sides of the rear cockpit were cut a little below the level of the upper longerons; but on later machines the upper longerons were unbroken, and the rear cockpit was sur mounted by a circular frame on which a Scarff ring-mounting could be installed when required. The Avro 504B was the first variant to have a pylon-type tail- skid similar to that of the B.E.2C, a fitting which remained standard on all subsequent 504 sub-types. Some 504Bs were used operationally from Dunkirk, but the type was more widely used by the R.N.A.S. as a trainer. Thanks to its larger fin it was much more difficult to spin than the R.F.C. versions. The standard power-plant was the 80 h.p.'Gnome, but when supplies of that engine ran short some 504Bs were fitted with the 80 h.p Le Rhone. The endurance of the Avro, even when increased to 4£ hours, was still considered to be insufficient for long-distance recon naissance flights or anti-Zeppelin patrols. A single-seat version with greater fuel capacity was therefore ordered. This was designated 504C, and had a large cylindrical tank installed in the position normally occupied by the front cockpit: the endurance was no less than eight hours. The 504C was an R.N.A.S. variant, and the airframe was virtually identical to that of the 504B. The cockpit corresponded to the rear cockpit of the 504B, and its sides were similarly cut below the level of the upper longerons. The 504C had the R.N.A.S. wings with long ailerons, and the large fin and plain rudder were fitted. The engine was still the 80 h.p. Gnome. For anti-Zeppelin duties some Avro 504Cs had an aperture in the centre-section through which a Lewis gun fired upwards at an angle of about 45 degrees. A. similar single-seat conversion for the R.F.C was designated 504D, and probably bore the same relationship to the 504A as the 504C did to the 504B. It is doubtful whether the 504D was produced in quantity, whereas an appreciable number of
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