The Great War - Aviation - Avro 504

The Avro 504 was a two seat aircraft designed in 1913 and was used during the First World War for light bombing and reconnaissance missions. Unfortunately on 22nd August 1914, just shortly after the outbreak of war, an Avro 504 was shot down by enemy aircraft, so the pilot and plane became the first British casualty of the war in the air.

The original aircraft design wasn't a very successful combat plane and was therefore withdrawn from the front line at the end of 1914. In early 1915, a replacement was designed in the shape of the Avro 504-B. This was a single seater plane meaning it was able to carry more fuel than the previous version so it could take part in long range reconnaissance missions. By the summer of 1915 the Avro 504-B was removed from the front line, instead being used as a pilot trainer in Britain. It remained carrying out this role until 1924.

The Final version of this aircraft had a maximum speed of 82 MPH, a maximum height of 12,000 feet and could fly for a maximum of 4 hours and 30 minutes. It could carry a 12" machine gun and 80 pounds of bombs at any one time.

The outbreak of war meant that this plane was able to be redesigned faster than it would in peace time. It also meant that although it was later decided that it wasn't the best option as a fighter plane, it was an aircraft that trained many pilots how to fly and helped to win the war.