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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 2061.PDF
/ 84 FLIGHT THE AVRO 504 . . . not surpassed by any of the warlike achievements of the Avro's operational contemporaries. The "party piece" of Capt. Williams, commander of "C" Flight, was to land between two hangars more or less regardless of wind direction, turning completely round immediately after touching down and finishing his landing run inside "C" Flight's hangar. Williams' machine was the 504J numbered C.4448. Another distinguished Avro 504J was C.4451. It was on that aircraft that H.R.H. Prince Albert, later King George VI, learned to fly. Such wav-the fame of the Gosport system that in 1918 four Gosport instructors and four Mono-Avros were sent to France to advise and assist in the training of French pilots. At Gosport, pilots were, not only permitted but were expected to fly their Avros to the limits of the machine's capabilities. Not only did this instil great confidence and flying skill, but it also provided the most thorough test of the aircraft; and Gosport became an authority on Avros and what could or could not be done on them. Some experiments were carried out there. Single-bay wings of reduced span were fitted to B.4264, and the modified machine performed very well. Standard wings were later fitted, but with the gap reduced to 5ft Hin. One important consequence of the success of the Gosport system was the decision to standardize the Avro 504J as the R.F.C.'s training aeroplane. The demand for the Avro swelled enormously, and contracts were placed with a large number of manufacturers. Unfortunately, contracts for the 100 h.p. Monosoupape engine had been allowed to run down as it ceased to be used in front-line aircraft. British production of the engine was tapering off towards the end of 1917, and despite its revival in 1918 it was obvious that Mono-Gn6mes would not be forthcoming in sufficient quantities to equal the output of Avros. To overcome this difficulty, all surplus rotary engines were recalled from all aerodromes in England and France. This action produced a mixed collection of 130 h.p. Clergets, 110 h.p. Le Rhones and even 80 h.p. Le Rhones. The installation of the 80 h.p. Le Rhone was a fairly straightforward job, and some 504Js had that engine. The larger engines did not fit into the airframe easily, and modification was necessary. Lt. Col. Smith-Barry has been credited with the idea of making the 130 h.p. Clerget, 110 h.p. Le Rhone and 100 h.p. Gnome Monosoupape interchange able in the Avro; and it is relevant to recall that one of the experi ments carried out at Gosport in 1917 was the installation of a 130 h.p. Clerget in the 504J B.3157. A. V. Roe and Co. did in fact devise adaptors by means of which any of the engines could be fitted into the 504 airframe. All were carried on an overhung mounting and had an open-fronted cowling. The modified machine was designated Avro 504K, regardless of the type of engine. Production machine^ appeared with all these engines, and were distributed to every training unit at home and to others in Egypt, India, Australia and Canada. It was recognized that the Egyptian climate might affect the wooden airframe adversely, and in 1918 some 504-type wings of steel construction were sent there to observe the effects of the climate on steel stuctures. Many 504Js were converted to become 504Ks, and machines which had been ordered under contracts for 504As and 504Js were modified during construction to become 504Ks. Produc tion was undertaken on an enormous scale, and the total number of all Avro 504 variants which were built during the war exceeded the production of any other individual type of British aeroplane of the period. In 1918 production of the 504K was initiated in Canada, at the factory of Canadian Aeroplanes Ltd., the Govern ment-sponsored undertaking which had taken over the Curtiss works and staff at Long Branch, Toronto, late in 1916. It seems clear that the intention was for the Avro to replace the Curtiss JN-4 at training stations in Canada, and gives an interesting indication of the official opinion on the relative merits of the two machines. The initial contract was for 100 Avro 504Ks, but only one, or at most two, had been delivered by the time of the Armistice. The British Liaison Officer in Washington, Col. Lee, was of the opinion that the Avro was the finest trainer ever built, and he had one sent to America during the winter of 1917-18. It made several demonstration flights over Washington. The Americans wanted large numbers of 504Ks but could obtain only a few which they used at Issoudun for instruction in aerobatics. One of the little-known facts in the Avro's history is that the 504K was issued to Home Defence squadrons as a fighting air craft from the beginning of 1918. By the end of 1917 it had become evident that the F.E.2bs which were in use with some Home Defence units were ineffective because of their low ceiling. It was therefore decided to re-equip the northern group of squadrons with single-seat conversions of the Le Rhone Avro 504K: in this form the type could reach a ceiling of 18,000ft. It was also thought that experience gained by pilots in handling the Avro and its rotary engine would make them suitable for later transfer to the Camel-equipped Home Defence squadrons in the south. Avro 504Ks still equipped five squadrons at the Armistice, by which time they were due to be replaced by Sopwith Camels. The Home Defence Avros were armed with a single Lewis gun on a Foster mounting above the centre-section: a similar installa tion had been made on the 504J No. C.4364. The front cockpit of the fighter 504Ks was faired over, and the gravity tank was moved out on to the port upper wing to make way for the gun-mounting. In an endeavour to improve their performance, some of the 504K fighters were fitted with a vee undercarriage similar to that of the Avro 521. The vees were attached to the fuselage at the normal pick-up points for the struts which supported the central skid of the standard undercarriage, and were consequently unusually broad. The Sunbeam Motor Car Co., Ltd., were contractors for the Avro 504A, J and K, and in 1918 they fitted a 504K airframe with one of their own Dyak engines of 100 h.p. There is no record of
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