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Avro 501 and 503

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For a description of the format and data included in Production Tables, see here.

Type Description and Production Data

Type 501 Type G / Type 503
Foreign Derivatives
Production Summary
Type 501
Two seat unequal span tractor biplane, initially built as an amphibian, fitted with a single a sprung central float designed by O. T. Gnosspelius, from which projected three small wheels, two in the rear and one forward, and two outrigger floats under the wings. This arrangement proved unsatisfactory and Gnosspelius replaced it with a twin float unit without wheels. Apart from a considerable strut-braced top wing overhang, the aircraft was similar to an enlarged float-equipped Avro 500. It featured constant chord ailerons on the upper wings only, and the original style Type 500 rudder with a tail float attached to its lower edge. Later it was converted to a landplane with a two-wheel, twin skid undercarriage but the track was still too narrow to support the aircraft vertically at rest and stout wing tip skids were necessary. Large inversely tapered ailerons replacing the constant chord units. One 100 h.p. Gnome powerplant.

Type 501 Specification - Seaplane
Span Length Height Wing Area Empty Wt Max AUW Cruise Speed Maximum Speed Range Service Ceiling
47 ft 6 in 33 ft 12 ft 6 in 478 sq ft 1740 lb 2700 lb 55 mph/ 48 kn
14.48 m 10.06 m 3.81 m 44.41 m2 789 kg 1225 kg 89 km/h

Production Details
Serial Range C/n Batch
Qty		 Conv. Canc'd Notes
 1 aircraft built by A.V. Roe and Co. Ltd., Brownsfield Mills, Manchester, to Contract C.P.33177/13. First flew January 1913.
 16    1      See note 1.
Total Production 1
Type G / Type 503 (See Note 2)
Two seat twin float seaplane, a slightly larger version of the Type 501 and featured less of a overhang on the mainplane and no inclined struts, large inversely tapered ailerons on the upper wings only, and the original style Type 500 rudder with a tail float attached to its lower edge. The aircraft were later converted to landplanes, with the two-wheel, twin skid undercarriage of the Type 500, but featuring the tail skid and 'comma' rudder that had been introduced on the Type 500. One 100 h.p. Gnome powerplant.
In Germany, unlicensed copies were also built by AGO and Gotha.

Type 503 Specification
Span Length Height Wing Area Empty Wt Max AUW Cruise Speed Maximum Speed Range Service Ceiling
50 ft 33 ft 6 in 12 ft 9 in 567 sq ft 2200 lb 50 mph/ 43 kn
15.24 m 10.21 m 3.89 m 52.68 m2 998 kg 80 km/h

Production Details
Serial Range C/n Batch
Qty		 Conv. Canc'd Notes
 1 aircraft built by A.V. Roe and Co. Ltd., Brownsfield Mills, Manchester. First flew, from Shoreham, May 1913.
 none    1      To the German Naval Air Arm (Marine Luftschiff Abteilung) September 1913 as D12.
 3 aircraft built by A.V. Roe and Co. Ltd., Miles Platting, Manchester, to Contract C.P.36208/13 for the RNAS. Delivered between September and October 1913.
 51 - 53    3      All later converted to landplane trainers.
 1 aircraft ordered from A.V. Roe and Co. Ltd., Miles Platting, Manchester, for the Peruvian Government in 1914. Cancelled due to the outbreak of war.
         1  Reported as being built and transferred to the Admiralty, but there seems no evidence of this.
Total Production 4 1

Foreign Derivatives

AGO Flugzeugwerke GmbH, Berlin-Johannisthal, Germany
AGO W2
Unlicensed copy of the Type 503. One 100 h.p. Gnome powerplant.
Production Details
Serial Range C/n Batch
Qty		 Conv. Canc'd Notes
 1 aircraft built by AGO Flugzeugwerke GmbH at Berlin-Johannisthal.
 D19    1      Presented to Deutsches Marine in January 1914.
 10 aircraft built by AGO Flugzeugwerke GmbH at Berlin-Johannisthal, for the Reichs Marine Amt (RMA). Delivered in 1914.
 30 - 39    10      
Total Production 11
Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG, Germany
Gotha WD 1
Unlicensed copy of the Type 503. First aircraft featured a Gnome powerplant, and was basically identical to the Type 503. Further aircraft had a 100 h.p. Mercedes powerplant
Production Details
Serial Range C/n Batch
Qty		 Conv. Canc'd Notes
 1 aircraft built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG. Completed in February 1914.
 none    1      Retained by Gotha. Identical to Avro 503.
 1 aircraft built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG for the Ostseeflug Warnemünde in 1914.
 59    1      Competition number 20. To Marine Luftschiff Abteilung as 59 in August 1914.
 5 aircraft built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG for German Naval Air Arm (Marine Luftschiff Abteilung).
 285 - 289    5      286, 287, 289 delivered to Turkey.
Total Production 7
Gotha WD 2
As WD 1 with modifications to the fin and rudder. 160 h.p. Mercedes powerplant except where noted.
Production Details
Serial Range C/n Batch
Qty		 Conv. Canc'd Notes
 1 aircraft built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG for the Ostseeflug Warnemünde in 1914.
 61    1      Competition number 19a. To Marine Luftschiff Abteilung as 61. 150 h.p. Rapp powerplant.
 1 aircraft built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG for the Ostseeflug Warnemünde in 1914.
 60    1      Competition number 19. To Marine Luftschiff Abteilung as 60. 150 h.p. Benz powerplant.
 12 aircraft built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG for German Naval Air Arm (Marine Luftschiff Abteilung). Delivered in 1914.
 236 - 240    5      All delivered to Turkey
 254 - 258    5      
 424 - 425    2      All delivered to Turkey
 8 aircraft built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG for Turkey. Delivered in 1914.
 1 - 6    6      
 7 - 8    2      Known in Turkey as WD 13
 5 aircraft built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG for German Naval Air Arm (Marine Luftschiff Abteilung). Delivered in 1914.
 573 - 577    5      Known in Turkey as WD 12
Total Production 27

Production Summary

All Avro Built Aircraft By Type
Type Built New Conv Canc'd Total
 Type 501 1 1
 Type 503 4 (1) 5
5 (1) 0
German Production
AGO
Type Built New
 W2 11
11

Gotha
Type Built New
 WD 1 7
 WD 2 27
34

Notes

  1. Deleted from RNAS inventory in February 1916. Reported as being rebuilt using Avro 503 parts, it was exported to Norway in 1919 but not registered until 9 April 1927, as N-5 to Christian Hellesen in Tönsberg.
  2. Per Harlin [4], this aircraft was initially refered to as the Type G and not Type H as given by Jackson [1], reusing the designation of the earlier cabin monoplane. This was quickly changed to Type 503 with the introduction on the new designation system.

Production References

  1. Avro Aircraft Since 1908, A.J. Jackson (Putnam, 1965 and 1990)
  2. British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001)
  3. The Gotha Seaplanes, Cross and Cockade Vol 45 No 2
  4. Avro Types 501 and 503 Floatplanes and their German Derivatives, Cross and Cockade Vol 45 No 3
  5. Gotha Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplane, Jack Herris (Aeronaut Books, 2013)

Page Revision History

Revised at Version 2.0.0
  • Improved Type Description and Added Specification details.
  • Corrected delivery date of Type 503 to the German Naval Air Arm to September 1913.
Revised at Version 1.4.0
  • New page - was part of Low Volume Production