what is it?
The Avro 536 and its follow-on design, the 546 were developments of the 504 military biplane, marketed for civil use in the years following World War I. Principally intended for joyriding, the aircraft had greater wing area and a more powerful engine to lift four passengers, seated in two rows of side-by-side seats behind the pilot. In service at Blackpool, Avro 536s flown by three pilots were able to fly about 500 passengers on their first day of operation. At least one 536 was still providing joyrides on Jersey as late as 1927.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11.2 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 107 years ago, in 1919.
- Top speed is 1.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 11.2 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1919-05
- retired
- 1930
- status
- retired
- number built
- 26
- role
- utility aircraft
- makers
- Avro
- engines
- 1× Bentley BR.1
- crew
- 1
- passengers
- 4
- length
- 9 m
- wingspan
- 11.2 m
- height
- 3.2 m
- max take-off weight
- 458 kg
- top speed
- 233 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 3,658 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q183212, Wikipedia: Avro 536 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.