Avro 527

The RNAS Avro 504G was a 80 hp (60 kW) Gnome rotary-engined version of the Avro 504B with forward-firing Vickers guns and a Scarff ring-mounted Lewis gun in the rear cockpit.[1] The Avro 527[2] was an equivalent two-seat fighter reconnaissance derivative version of the 504 intended for the RFC with the much more powerful, 150 hp (110 kW) Sunbeam Nubian water-cooled engine. It used standard 504K wings and a central skid, single-axle undercarriage.[2] Naval 504s had mostly been fitted with a vertical tail with a generous fixed fin, in contrast to RFC machines with the all-moving, comma-shaped rudder, and the 527 retained the fin as used by RNAS 504s.[3] The engine installation was very different from other 504s, with two tall, almost vertical exhaust pipes, one from each bank of the upright V-eight Nubian, discharging just above the upper wing. Its radiator was mounted edge on (longitudinally) between the wings.[2]

The 527 first flew sometime in 1916. A version with wings of 6 ft (1.83 m) span was considered, the 527A, but there is no record of it flying.[2]

When trialled by the RFC, pilots found that it did not climb well and that their view was obscured by the large engine, its radiator and exhausts. As a result, production was not pursued and only one aircraft was ever built.[2]

 United Kingdom -

• Royal Flying Corps

Data from Avro Aircraft since 1908[2]

General characteristics

• Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)
• Powerplant: 1 × Sunbeam Nubian V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 150 hp (110 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 103 mph (166 km/h, 90 kn) [4]

Armament

• Guns: 1 × rear-mounted 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun

• Jackson, A. J. (1990). Avro Aircraft since 1908. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-834-8.
• Green, William; Swanborough, Gordon (1994). The Complete Book of Fighters. London: Salamander. ISBN 1-85833-777-1.