Collection Item

Avro 504K (replica)

This most effective military training aeroplane of World War One (WWI) - which later introduced thousands of civilians to flying - originated as the Avro 500 (Type E) which made its first flight at Brooklands on 3/3/1912. It was developed from the Avro 501 and 503 to the final version (the 504), first seen on 20/9/1913 at Hendon which reappeared, after modification, at Brooklands that October. Orders were placed by the War Office and the Admiralty for bomber and reconnaissance variants and, with the start of WWI, four RNAS Avro 504s successfully attacked a German airship base at Friedrichshafen on 21/11/1914.

Many Avro 504s were used in an offensive role, yet the type is best known as one of the most successful trainers of all time. After 1918, hundreds were sold off cheaply and, from 1919 to 1930, over 300 were given British civil registrations, the most common being the two-seat, dual-control 504K. Many were used by air circuses, joy riding companies and flying schools between the wars.

This replica (identified as BAPC 177) was donated to Brooklands Museum by the RAF Museum in 1987 and was fully restored by volunteers who fitted an original Clerget engine loaned by the RAF Museum. Built around 1975 as a non-flyable taxiable replica for the film ‘Aces High’, it is now painted as G-AACA which was operated by the Brooklands School of Flying from 1928-1933.

DATA: One 130hp Clerget rotary engine; wing span 37ft 6in (11.4m); length 29ft 6in (9m); height 11ft (3.46m); weight (production aircraft) 1,823lbs (829kg).