The Avro 523 Pike (the first Avro aircraft to receive a name) was a British multi-role combat aircraft of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

that did not progress past the prototype stage. It was intended to provide the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

with an anti-

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

fighter that was also capable of long-range

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

and

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

ing.

Design and development

The Avro Pike was a large, three-bay

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

of conventional layout driven by two pusher propellers. Three open cockpits were provided, the centre one for the pilot, with gunners fore and aft of him. The

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

evaluated the type, but rejected it. Avro then built a second prototype, substituting the original's Sunbeam engines for Green E.6 engines instead and designated it the 523A.

Operational history

The Admiralty evaluated this in November 1916, but found that the type was by then obsolete and did not place an order. The two prototypes flew as testbeds with Avro for the remainder of the war.

Specifications (523)

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Jackson, A.J. ''Avro Aircraft since 1908''. London: Putnam, 1990. . * Mason, Francis K. ''The British Bomber since 1912''. London: Putnam, 1994. . * Taylor, Michael J. H. ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation''. London: Studio Editions, 1989, p. 93. * ''World Aircraft Information Files''. London: Bright Star Publishing. {{Avro aircraft Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United Kingdom

Pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

1910s British bomber aircraft 1910s British fighter aircraft 1910s British military reconnaissance aircraft Twin-engined pusher aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1916