Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Two-seat military training biplane

Power Plant:

One 112 kw (130 hp) Clerget 9B nine-cylinder rotary air-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

During its service the Avro 504K was occasionally operated as a seaplane, using a four-strut wing arrangement with wire bracing and being fitted with floats. However, in the definitive seaplane role, which became known as the Avro 504L, the twin floats were attached to the fuselage with six struts with wire bracing; a float was attached to the under-surface of the rear fuselage; a curved dorsal fin was mounted ahead of the rudder, improvements being made to the fairing of the fuselage to conform to the shape of the engine cowling; and engines ranging in power from 82 kw to 112kw (110 hp to 150 hp) were installed. Most common engine was the Clerget 9B, a nine-cylinder rotary engine built in both France and Great Britain, with some 1,300 examples being built by Ruston Proctor of Lincoln.

In April 1920 Lt Col Richard Williams, senior officer of the Australian Air Corps, recommended the conversion of a number of Avro 504K aircraft from the Imperial Gift to seaplane configuration by the installation of two wooden pontoon floats and a wooden tail float. In May 1920 material for the conversion of two aircraft was obtained from Australian Aircraft & Engineering Co Ltd (AA&ECo) at Mascot, NSW for serials H3042 and H3034. These were converted to 504L standard, the first being flown in late May 1920. A ramp into Port Phillip Bay was built at Point Cook, VIC together with a turntable to turn the aircraft. The first record of flight was by Captain Adrian Cole on 26 May 1920 when the aircraft went in search of the Royal Naval ship ‘HMS Renown’ near Port Phillip Heads and Cape Shank.

Seaplane trials with H3034 commenced in July 1920 on board the Australian flagship, the heavy cruiser ‘HMAS Australia’, and although placed on board the cruiser with Australian Air Corps pilot Captain H De La Rue DFC on board, it was not in fact flown and, when the flagship duties were transferred to the cruiser ‘HMAS Melbourne’ in September that year, the aircraft was transferred, the crew for which had now become Capt James Fryer-Smith as pilot and Lt William Walne as observer.

On 29 September 1920 ‘HMAS Melbourne’ left Sydney, NSW for New Guinea, this being a five-week cruise to Woodlark Island and the former German colonies at Rabaul, New Ireland and New Guinea, the plan being to return via Cairns, QLD. Tropical trials were planned with the aircraft and were conducted but these were a failure, the aircraft not being suited for the light cruisers as they were too large and too heavy. Commodore Dumaresq prepared a report on 6 November 1920 entitled ‘HMAS Melbourne Cruise to Mandate Islands. Failure of Seaplane Allotted by Air Board for Cruise’.

The Avro 504L was to be flown by Captain Fryer-Smith, who had an observer, mechanics and spares. Several ports on the Queensland coast were visited on the way north but the 504L was not flown due to wind conditions and rough seas. At Woodlark the aircraft was flown but not successfully due to the hot conditions. At Simpson Harbour at Rabaul the aircraft failed to lift off the water and an engine change was made. The ship cruised to Cairns, arriving on 5 November, where the 504L was flown but engine problems caused a public display to be cancelled. ‘HMAS Melbourne’ later returned to Sydney, the cruise identifying that the lack of power of the engine in the tropics was an issue. Saltwater and the tropics were a problem and the unsuitability of the aircraft delayed the introduction of further aircraft to the Navy until more suitable aircraft became available. Subsequently the Fairey IIID was ordered, this being fitted with the Rolls Royce Eagle engine.

The Avro 504L soon became unserviceable as it was stored in the open on the deck. In January 1921 the aircraft returned to Point Cook, having been found to be unsuitable for operation from Australian Navy ships and continued in service as a seaplane trainer with No 1 Flying School. In 1921, following the Air Force becoming the Royal Australian Air Force, and the allotment of a new serial system for aircraft, it became A3-46. It continued in service until 1925 when replaced by the Fairey IIID, eventually reverting to wheels and 504K configuration until it was retired.

H3042 continued to operate from Point Cook on floats, becoming the first seaplane to land on the Yarra River on 15 June 1920, taxiing to the rowing ramp near the Swanston Street Bridge. At that time there were 30 World War I aircraft on display including “about 15” captured German aircraft, the show being open from 19 June to 3 July. H3042 continued in this role until 1921 when it became A3-47 but was destroyed in an accident at Altona, VIC in May 1922. It would seem the two Australian Air Corps aircraft were Australian modifications from 504K to 504L standard using kits supplied by Avro.

A civil example of the Avro 504L was assembled at Mascot by AA&ECo Ltd for Capt Nigel B Love and Lt W J Warneford. It attended the Manly Peace Memorial Hospital Carnival and Fancy Fair from 28 February to 13 March 1920 and passenger flights were made. The Sydney Morning Herald stated these flights were “a huge success”, the flights being made initially on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, later becoming daily after 6 March, the flights costing £4.4.0 ($8.80) each, two passengers being carried on each occasion. Pilots were Flight Commander Nigel Love and later Flt Lt Roberts.

The Avro 504K was extensively used by the NZPAF for training, many of these being supplied to civil organisations. Two of these operated by the New Zealand Flying School / Walsh Flying School operated in 504L configuration with floats in the 1920s at Kohimarama near Auckland. These aircraft were G-NZAA (ex H2989) fitted with a Monosoupape engine, and G-NZAC (ex H2990) fitted with a Clerget engine. H2989 was the first seaplane to land at Nelson, NZ, landing on the harbour on 17 February 1923 piloted by Captain P K Fowler, the aircraft being sponsored by the National Oil Co.