| Industry | Aviation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1912 |
| Defunct | 1920 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Successor | de Havilland |
| Headquarters | The Hyde,Hendon, London,England |
Key people | Geoffrey de Havilland |
| Products | Aircraft |
| Subsidiaries | Aircraft Transport and Travel |
The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an earlyBritish aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during theFirst World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918.
Airco produced many thousands of aircraft for both the British and Allied military air wings throughout the war, includingfighters,trainers andbombers. The majority of the company's aircraft were designed in-house by Airco's chief designerGeoffrey de Havilland.
Airco established the firstairline in the United Kingdom,Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, which operated as asubsidiary of Airco. On 25 August 1919, it commenced the world's first regular daily international service.
Following the end of the war, the company's fortunes rapidly turned sour. Theinterwar period was unfavourable for aircraft manufacturers largely due to a glut of surplus aircraft from the war, while a lack of interest in aviation on the part of the British government also hampered its prospects. Airco quickly became unprofitable; during 1920, the firm was sold toBirmingham Small Arms Company, after which its operations wereliquidated later that same year. Numerous assets and personnel formerly belonging to the company were integrated into the newly establishedde Havilland Aircraft Company.
During 1912, Airco was established bynewspaper proprietor and industrialistGeorge Holt Thomas. The firm was initially based atThe Hyde inHendon, northLondon, England. Starting in August 1914, the aviatorWilliam Taylor Birchenough worked as a test pilot for Airco. That same year, learning thatGeoffrey de Havilland, who was then at theRoyal Aircraft Factory in Farnborough, might be available, Holt Thomas invited him to join Airco as its chief designer. De Havilland's Airco designs would prove decisive to the company, which would eventually provide around 30 per cent of all trainers, fighters and bombers used by Britain and the United States during theFirst World War.[1] De Havilland's designs for Airco were all marked with his initials "DH".[2]
Airco would design and produce numerous aircraft during the wartime years. ItsDH.2, apusher configurationfighter introduced during 1916, contributed to ending the "Fokker scourge" of 1915. While early air combat over theWestern Front had indicated the need for a single-seat fighter with forward-firing armament, there was no dominant approach to applying armaments to fighters at the time.[3] As no means of firing forward through the propeller of a tractor aeroplane was available to the British, Geoffrey de Havilland designed the DH.2 as a smaller, single-seat development of the earlier two-seatDH.1 pusher design.[4] A total of 453 DH.2s were produced by Airco.[5]
Another design produced by de Havilland was theDH.6, which was specifically designed as a militarytrainer; as this role was normally performed by obsolete service types at the time, it was an unconventional choice to develop a dedicated trainer.[6] The DH.6 possessed relatively gentle flying characteristics, being described as being probably the most "forgiving" aircraft of its time, allowing itself to be flown "crab wise" in improperly banked turns and able to maintain sustained flight at speeds as low as 30 miles per hour (48 km/h).[7] At least 2,282 DH.6s were built in the UK during wartime.[8]
TheDH.4 was a two-seat combat aircraft, intended to perform bothaerial reconnaissance andday bomber missions.[4] By the end of production, a total of 1,449 aircraft (from orders for 1,700 aircraft) were constructed in Britain for theRoyal Flying Corps (RFC) and theRoyal Naval Air Service (RNAS).[9] Production of the DH.4 was performed by a variety of companies beyond Airco themselves; these included F.W. Berwick and Co, Glendower Aircraft Company, Palladium Autocars, Vulcan Motor and Engineering, and theWestland Aircraft Work.[10] Overseas,SABCA ofBelgium produced a further 15 DH.4s during 1926.[11][10] In the United States, several different manufacturers, including theBoeing Airplane Corporation,Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, theFisher Body Corporation, and theStandard Aircraft Corporation produced an Americanised variant of the DH.4, featuring over 1,000 modifications from the original British design, to equip the American air services.[12]
During 1916, theDH.9 was designed as a successor to the DH.4, reusing both its wings andtail unit while adopting a modifiedfuselage that moved thepilot closer to thegunner/observer and away from theengine and fuel tank, which facilitated communication and was viewed as being a more optimal fighting configuration.[13] However, While the DH.9 was deemed to be suitable for daytime bombing operations, it was found to be incapable of effective nighttime bombing due to the pilot's view being obstructed and visibility via thebombsight being unsuitable.[14] The DH.9's performance in action over the Western Front was typically deemed to have been a disaster; heavy losses of the type were quickly incurred, attributed to both its poor performance and to engine failures, despite the prior derating of its engine to reduce the failure rate.[15]
By December 1918, Holt Thomas claimed in an advertisement that Airco was the largest aircraft company in the world, being engaged in the construction of aeroplanes, engines andpropellers in large numbers, as well as a number ofairships andflying boats.[2] The engines being built included licensed production ofGnome and Le Rhonerotary engines.[2] The company's works at Hendon employed between 7,000 and 8,000 people and had the latest metal-working machinery, in addition to extensive testing equipment, including a materials testing laboratory and awind tunnel.[16] At one stage, Airco was reportedly completing one new aircraft every 45 minutes on average.[17] During 1920, the aviation periodicalFlight Magazine reported that, during the period from August 1914 to November 1918, the D.H. Airco aircraft manufactured in both Britain and the United States had comprised approximately 30 per cent of the total output of aeroplanes of these two allies.[18]
Following theArmistice of 11 November 1918 and the end of the conflict, many of the wartime DH.4s and DH.9s, along with the improvedDH.9A, served for many years with the newly createdRoyal Air Force. These aircraft also formed the basis of early de Havilland-designed airliners, including the company'sDH.16 andDH.18 types which were operated byAircraft Transport and Travel Limited, the first airline established in the United Kingdom, which was also owned by George Holt Thomas.[citation needed]
Airco decided to enter into the earlyairline business, established a dedicatedsubsidiary,Aircraft Transport and Travel (AT&T), for this purpose.[2] On 25 August 1919, the firm commenced the world's first regular daily international service, betweenHounslow Heath Aerodrome andLe Bourget Aerodrome, France. A number ofDH.16s were used for this service.[19]
In addition to operating the London-to-Paris service, AT&T also launched other routes, including one betweenCroydon Airport andAmsterdam, on behalf of theDutch airlineKLM. On 17 May 1920, an AT&T DH.16 (G-EALU) performed the first KLM service between London andAmsterdam.[19]
Following thecessation of hostilities, the large number of war-surplus machines, sharp fluctuations in business confidence, and the government's failure, unlike those of USA and France, to provide any form of support, Airco became unprofitable.[16] Thomas endeavoured to sell Airco to a car manufacturer. Airco and BSA, parent company of Daimler, announced on 1 March 1920 that Airco had amalgamated withBirmingham Small Arms Company.[20]
Within days BSA discovered Airco was in a far more serious financial state than Thomas had revealed. Thomas was immediately removed from his new seat on the BSA board and all BSA's new acquisitions were placed inliquidation. As a result of the financial situation that it inherited, BSA was unable to issue adividend to shareholders for the following four years.[21] With help from Thomas, de Havilland bought the group's assets he needed to form thede Havilland Aircraft Company during 1920.
Aircraft Transport and Travel had been allowed to continue to operate until December 1920. BSA then bought Aircraft Transport and Travel's aircraft from the liquidator and, in early 1921, establishedDaimler Airway andDaimler Air Hire underDaimler Hire Limited'sFrank Searle.[citation needed]
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