Avro 527

The Avro 527 was the last two-seat fighter derivative of the Avro 504 design, built early in 1916 for trial by the Royal Flying Corps. It took the role of the Royal Naval Air Service Avro 504G but replaced the 80 hp Gnome rotary with a much more powerful 150 hp Sunbeam Nubian water-cooled V-8, with standard 504K wings and a central skid undercarriage. The installation was unusual, with two tall, almost vertical exhaust pipes above the upper wing and an edge-on radiator between the wings. Pilots found that it climbed poorly and that the big engine, radiator and exhausts obscured their view, so production was not pursued and only one aircraft was ever built. A longer-winged 527A was considered but there is no record of it flying.