Airco

Template:Other uses

The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited

Industry	Aviation
Founded	1912
Defunct	1920
Fate	Bankruptcy
Successor	de Havilland
Headquarters	The Hyde, Hendon, London, England
Key people	Geoffrey de Havilland
Products	Aircraft
Parent	From February 1920, Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA)
Subsidiaries	Aircraft Transport and Travel

The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (commonly known as Airco) was among the pioneering British aircraft producers. Founded in 1912, it expanded swiftly throughout the First World War, eventually claiming the title of the world's largest aircraft manufacturer by 1918.

During the war, Airco manufactured thousands of planes for British and Allied air forces, including fighters, trainers, and bombers. The bulk of these aircraft were conceived by Airco’s lead designer, Geoffrey de Havilland, whose in-house designs became central to the company’s output.

Airco also launched the United Kingdom’s first airline, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, a subsidiary that began operating the globe’s inaugural regular daily international flight on 25 August 1919.

However, after the war ended, Airco’s business prospects deteriorated rapidly. The postwar period proved challenging for aircraft manufacturers due to an oversupply of surplus military planes and limited government support for aviation development. By 1920, Airco was no longer profitable and was acquired by the Birmingham Small Arms Company. Its operations were wound up later that year, with many of its assets and staff absorbed into the newly formed de Havilland Aircraft Company.

Origins and de Havilland

Airco was founded in 1912 by industrialist and newspaper owner George Holt Thomas. The company’s initial premises were located at The Hyde in Hendon, north London. In August 1914, aviator William Taylor Birchenough joined as a test pilot. That year, upon learning that Geoffrey de Havilland—then working at the Royal Aircraft Factory in Farnborough—might be available, Holt Thomas invited him to become Airco’s chief designer. De Havilland’s contributions proved vital; his designs accounted for approximately 30 percent of all trainers, fighters, and bombers deployed by Britain and the United States during the First World War. All aircraft designed by De Havilland for Airco bore his distinctive "DH" initials.

Wartime production

Throughout the war years, Airco was responsible for designing and manufacturing a wide range of aircraft. One notable model was the Airco DH.2, a pusher configuration fighter introduced in 1916, which played a key role in overcoming the "Fokker scourge" of 1915. Early aerial combat on the Western Front highlighted the necessity for a single-seat fighter equipped with forward-firing weapons, although no standard method for mounting such armaments had yet emerged. Since British pilots lacked technology to fire through the propeller arc of tractor-type planes, Geoffrey de Havilland developed the DH.2 as a more compact, single-seat derivative of the earlier two-seat DH.1 pusher design. In total, Airco produced 453 units of the DH.2.

Another de Havilland creation was the Airco DH.6, which was explicitly designed as a military trainer. At a time when training duties were commonly assigned to outdated operational aircraft, this represented an unusual decision to produce a dedicated training model. The DH.6 was known for its forgiving flight characteristics, often regarded as possibly the most accommodating aircraft of its era; it could be flown "crab wise" during improperly banked turns and maintain steady flight at speeds as low as 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). Wartime production in Britain yielded at least 2,282 DH.6 aircraft.

The Airco DH.4 served as a two-seat combat plane designed for both aerial reconnaissance and daytime bombing missions. By the conclusion of its production run, 1,449 units (from orders totaling 1,700) had been built in Britain to supply the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Production extended beyond Airco itself and included firms such as F.W. Berwick and Co, Glendower Aircraft Company, Palladium Autocars, Vulcan Motor and Engineering, and Westland Aircraft. Additionally, SABCA in Belgium manufactured another 15 DH.4s in 1926. In the United States, several manufacturers—including the Boeing Airplane Corporation, Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, Fisher Body Corporation, and Standard Aircraft Corporation—produced an Americanized version of the DH.4 featuring over a thousand modifications compared to the original British model to equip U.S. air services.

Designed in 1916 as a successor to the DH.4, the Airco DH.9 reused its predecessor’s wings and empennage, while incorporating a redesigned fuselage that positioned the pilot closer to the gunner/observer and further from the engine and fuel tank—improving communication and creating what was considered a more effective combat arrangement. Although suitable for daylight bombing missions, the DH.9 proved ineffective for night bombing due to restricted pilot visibility and inadequate sighting through the bombsight. Its operational performance on the Western Front was generally regarded as poor; significant losses were suffered because of both inferior performance and frequent engine failures despite efforts to reduce these by derating the engine.

By December of 1918, Holt Thomas advertised Airco as the world's largest aircraft manufacturer, engaged in producing aeroplanes, engines, and propellers on a substantial scale alongside various airships and flying boats. Licensed production included Gnome and Le Rhone rotary engines. The Hendon factory employed between seven and eight thousand workers and was equipped with state-of-the-art metalworking machinery plus extensive testing facilities such as a materials laboratory and a wind tunnel. At one point, Airco reportedly completed an aircraft every forty-five minutes on average. In 1920, Flight Magazine noted that between August1914 and November1918 approximately thirty percent of all aircraft produced by Britain and America were D.H.-type planes manufactured by Airco or under license in the United States.

After the cessation of hostilities following the Armistice of 11 November 1918, numerous wartime DH.4s and DH.9s—as well as the enhanced Airco DH.9A—continued service with the newly formed Royal Air Force. These models also served as foundations for early de Havilland-designed airliners like the De Havilland DH.16 and DH.18, which were operated by Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited—the first airline established in Britain under George Holt Thomas's ownership.Template:Fix/category

Airline operations and the initiation of the first daily international flights

File:DH16-AT&T.jpg

Airco DH.16 operated by Aircraft Transport and Travel

Airco made a strategic move into the nascent airline industry by creating a specialized subsidiary named Aircraft Transport and Travel (AT&T). On 25 August 1919, this company launched the inaugural regular daily international air service, connecting Hounslow Heath Aerodrome in the UK with Le Bourget Aerodrome in France. Several DH.16 aircraft were deployed to operate this pioneering route.

Beyond the London-to-Paris connection, AT&T expanded its network by establishing additional routes, notably one linking Croydon Airport with Amsterdam, operated on behalf of the Dutch carrier KLM. On 17 May 1920, an AT&T DH.16 (registration G-EALU) completed KLM's first flight between London and Amsterdam.

Acquisition by BSA and subsequent liquidation

After the end of hostilities, Airco faced significant challenges due to an oversupply of surplus wartime aircraft, volatile market confidence, and the lack of governmental assistance—unlike support provided in the USA and France—resulting in financial losses. Seeking a solution, Thomas attempted to sell Airco to an automobile manufacturer. On 1 March 1920, Airco announced its merger with the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), which owned Daimler.

However, within a few days, BSA uncovered that Airco’s financial difficulties were far more severe than initially disclosed by Thomas. Consequently, Thomas was promptly removed from his position on BSA’s board, and all newly acquired businesses were placed into liquidation. Due to these inherited financial burdens, BSA was unable to distribute a dividend to shareholders for four consecutive years. With assistance from Thomas, de Havilland acquired essential assets from the group to establish the de Havilland Aircraft Company in 1920.

Aircraft Transport and Travel continued operations until December 1920. Subsequently, BSA purchased its aircraft from the liquidator and merged these with Daimler Air Hire, which it had founded in 1919. This consolidation led to the creation of Daimler Airway, managed by Frank Searle, who was also responsible for Daimler Hire.

List of Airco Aircraft

File:Aerial travel for Business or Pleasure - Thos Cook & Son - 1919 - pp 14+15 (No. 7) (cropped).jpg

"The Aircraft Manufacturing Company's new high-speed Aeroplane for two passengers, fitted with a 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce engine. Speed 130 miles an hour." (1919)

• Airco DH.1 (1915) – A two-seat biplane fighter featuring a single pusher propeller
  • Airco DH.1A – Approximately 70 units produced, equipped with Beardmore engines
• Airco DH.2 (1915) – Single-seat biplane fighter powered by a single pusher propeller
• Airco DH.3 (1916) – Twin-engine biplane bomber; only two prototypes constructed, which served as the foundation for the later DH.10 model
  • Airco DH.3A – The second prototype fitted with a Beardmore engine
• Airco DH.4 (1916) – Two-seat day bomber biplane with a single tractor propeller
  • Airco DH.4A – Civil adaptation built in the United Kingdom, featuring a glazed cabin behind the pilot accommodating two passengers
  • Airco DH.4R – Single-seat racing variant powered by a 450 hp (3406 kW) Napier Lion engine
• Airco DH.5 (1916) – Single-seat biplane fighter with one tractor propeller
• Airco DH.6 (1916) – Two-seat biplane designed for training purposes, equipped with a single tractor propeller
• Airco DH.9 (1917) – Two-seat day bomber biplane fitted with a single tractor propeller
  • Airco DH.9A (1918) – An improved version of the DH.9 utilizing a Liberty engine
  • Airco DH.9C (1921) – Modified DH.9 converted into a passenger aircraft
• Airco DH.10 Amiens (1918) – Twin-engine biplane bomber; the initial prototype featured pusher propellers, while subsequent prototypes and production models employed tractor propellers; manufactured by Daimler
  • DH.11 Oxford (1919) – A variant of the DH.10 powered by radial engines; only one prototype was built and it did not enter production
• Airco DH.15 Gazelle (1919) – A single DH.9A aircraft converted to serve as an engine test platform
• Airco DH.16 (1919) – Redesigned from the DH.9A, this model featured a cabin accommodating four passengers and was employed as an airliner
• Airco DH.18 (1920) – A single-engine biplane airliner designed with an eight-passenger cabin