Avro 571 Buffalo

The Avro 571 Buffalo was a prototype British carrier-based torpedo bomber biplane, designed and built by Avro in the 1920s as a private venture to meet Air Ministry Specification 21/23 for a two-seat torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft to replace the Blackburn Dart. The prototype, registered G-EBNW, first flew at the Avro works at Hamble during 1926 and was evaluated against the Blackburn Ripon and the Handley Page Harrow, but it was found to have poor handling and was rejected. It was rebuilt as the Buffalo II with new all-metal wings, controllable Handley Page slats and a more powerful 530 hp Napier Lion engine, and in that form it was much improved, though by then the Ripon had been declared the competition winner. In 1928 the Buffalo was converted into a seaplane for the Air Ministry and used for trials at the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe.