Roe I Biplane
Alliott Verdon Roe · United Kingdom · first flew 1908 · light aircraft
The Roe I Biplane (later often called the Avro Biplane) was the first powered aircraft designed, built and flown in England.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 7.01 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | No tailplane |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Unequal-span two-bay biplane
- Pusher propeller behind the wings
- No vertical stabilising surface or rudder in its original form
An early pusher biplane with a 36 ft upper wing and a 30 ft lower wing and no rudder.
Specifications
- The Roe I Biplane has a length of 7.01 m (23 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 10.97 m (36 ft).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
A. V. Roe built it in his brother's coachhouse in Putney and tested it at Brooklands from September 1907, hoping to win a £2,500 Brooklands prize. Its original 9 hp JAP engine was too weak, so a 24 hp Antoinette was borrowed; the first flight is dated 8 June 1908.
Variants
Roe fitted additional lifting surfaces at mid-gap in the inner bay to carry the heavier Antoinette engine.
Where you'll see it
One was built. Roe dismantled it when he was evicted from Brooklands; a non-flying replica was built in 1988 and a taxiable one in 2008 for the Brooklands Museum.
Related aircraft
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