Saturday, 15 October 2016

Avro 504K - Oceanian users

Now it's time for the Oceanian or ANZAC users of the Avro 504K.

The first contact of Australian pilots with the 504K was in England as the pilots of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) belonging to the No. 5, 6, 7 and 8 training squadrons used them for their formation.
After the armistice and the end of the Great War, some of them were exported to Australia where they served with the newly created Royal Australian Air Force at Point Cook, home base of the Flying Training School. They arrived in Australia in 1922, and some of them were built locally under license by the Australian Aircraft and Engineering in Sidney, New South Wales. These locally manufactured machines were only 20pounds heavier than the original ones. Either way, they were replaced in the military service in 1928 when the Flying Training School bouth some De Havilland Cirrus Moth trainers to replace them.

The Avro 504K also served with the Permanent New Zealand Air Force, more exactly with the Kohimarama Flying School, in Auckland. As it's based in a very bad quality black & white photo, the colours should be considered as speculative. Apparently it beared the civilian registration G-NZAB.










Sources:
1. https://www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum/research/aircraft/series1/A3.htm
2. http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/Walsh%20Bros%20Avro.htm
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_504

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