A.Jackson Avro Aircraft since 1908 (Putnam)
Avro Type 519
The Avro Type 519 appears to have been a contemporary of the Grahame-White Type 18 and, like that aeroplane, very little is known about it. By a process of elimination, it seems certain that the Type 519 was intended as a possible bomber, and was evidently an attempt to adapt the Avro Type 510 'Round Britain' racing seaplane of 1914 for military consideration. (Although the 1914 race had been cancelled on the outbreak of war, the Admiralty had purchased the prototype and five further examples.)
The Type 519 retained the earlier aircraft's 150hp Sunbeam Nubian watercooled engine as well as similar two-bay wings of unequal span. The fuselage was generally similar, but was faired to incorporate curved upper decking and raised headrest fairings aft of the cockpits. The wheel-and-skid undercarriage with oleo struts was reminiscent of that on the Avro 504. In order to meet naval storage requirements, provision was made to fold the wings.
The design drawings, prepared by Roy Chadwick and H E Broadsmith, met with interest at the Admiralty and War Office to the extent that Avro received orders for four aircraft - two single-seat Type 519s for the RNAS and two two-seat Type 519As for the RFC; the latter featured fixed wings and a plain V-strut undercarriage without the central skid.
All four aircraft are believed to have been delivered to Farnborough by May 1916 for trials, but it is said that they did not meet the Service strength requirements with the Nubian engine, and their ultimate fate is not known.
Type: Single-engine, single- and two-seat, two-bay biplane (probably intended as experimental bomber).
Manufacturer: A Y Roe & Co Ltd, Miles Platting, Manchester.
Powerplant: One 150hp Sunbeam Nubian eight-cylinder, water-cooled, in-line engine driving two-blade propeller.
Dimensions: Span (Type 510), 63ft 0in.
Performance: Max speed, approx 76 mph at sea level.
Armament: No gun armament; provision for bomb load, unknown.
Prototypes: Four; two Type 519s for Admiralty, Nos 8440 and 8441, and two Type 519As for War Office, Nos 1614 and 1615.
P.Lewis British Bomber since 1914 (Putnam)
One of the designs of indeterminate purpose but of appearance strongly suggestive of being intended as a bomber was the Avro Type 519 biplane of early 1916. Two prototypes - 1614 and 1615 - were ordered for the R.F.C. and a further pair - 8440 and 8441 - for the R.N.A.S. Unequal-span, two-bay, unstaggered wings were mated to a normal style of fuselage with two cockpits in tandem. Mounted in the nose was the 150 h.p. Sunbeam Nubian, and aft of the cockpits - which were set well back and embedded in the deep curved decking - there was a large curved fin. The pilot’s view was not assisted by the bulky radiator installed above and to the rear of the Nubian. 8441 appeared as a folding-wing single-seater flown from the rear cockpit, that at the front being faired over, and a typical Avro-style single skid was incorporated in the undercarriage. The Type 519 was singularly undistinguished in appearance, and no progress was made with the design beyond the prototype stage.
O.Thetford British Naval Aircraft since 1912 (Putnam)
AVRO 519
Two only (Nos.8440 and 8441) supplied to the RNAS in 1916. So far as is known, the type saw no operational service. Originally built as a two-seater, a single-seat version (No.8441) is illustrated: it had folding wings. One 150 hp Sunbeam Nubian engine.
M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
Avro 519
Built for the Admiralty early in 1916, the Avro 519 single seat biplane bore a distinct resemblance to the Avro 510 seaplane of two years previously. Few technical details of the Avro 519 survive but it appears to have been fitted with the same wing structure as the 510, redesigned for folding and rigged with decreased gap. An enlarged version of the standard central skid undercarriage replaced the floats and the neat nose radiator was abandoned in favour of an ugly, high drag unit above and behind the engine which blocked the pilot's forward view. A large fin and rudder of the type used on the Avro 504B was also fitted.
The exact purpose of the aircraft is not known but pilot-comfort was evidently of some importance for the flat top of the Avro 510 fuselage gave place to a deep and generous decking. An elongated secondary structure on top of this formed a streamlined headrest.
Four prototypes were built, comprising two Avro 519s for the R.N.A.S. and two Avro 519A two seaters for the R.F.C. The latter were fitted with a stout Vee strut undercarriage with no skid, and photographs taken by test pilot Capt. F. T. Courtney suggest that all four were delivered to Farnborough for tests during or before May 1916. It is said that neither the R.N.A.S. nor the R.F.C. considered them strong enough for the powerful 150 h.p. engine, and apart from the fact that they were dubbed "The Big Avros" and that their rate of climb was poor, no hint of their career or ultimate fate remains.
SPECIFICATION AND DATA
Manufacturers: A. V. Roe and Co. Ltd., Clifton Street, Miles Platting, Manchester
Power Plant: One 150 h.p. Sunbeam Nubian
Production:
(For R.N.A.S.) 8440 and 8441
(For R.F.C.) 1614 and 1615
