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Aircraft Manufacturing Company - Airco - was established at The Hyde in Hendon, north London, England during 1912 by George Holt Thomas. Geoffrey de Havilland joined two years later as the chief designer, on leaving his post with the Royal Aircraft Factory. His designs for Airco were marked with his initials "DH". The first great success was a pusher engine fighter DH.2 of 1916, that helped to defeat the "Fokker scourge" of 1915. More than 2,280 examples of the DH.6 trainer were built. The DH.4 and DH.9 were important light bombers of World War I - these types, and the DH.9A, a developed version that served for many years with the postwar Royal Air Force, formed the basis of early de Havilland designed airliners - including the company's DH.16 and DH.18 types which were operated by Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, the first airline established in the United Kingdom, that was also owned by George Holt Thomas.

Following the cessation 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 and BSA announced on 1 March 1920 Airco had merged with Birmingham Small Arms Company. Within days BSA discovered Airco was in a far more serious financial state than George Holt Thomas had revealed. Thomas was immediately dropped from his new seat on the BSA board and all BSA's new acquisitions were placed in the hands of a liquidator. BSA failed to pay a dividend for the following four years. Using Airco's aircraft bought from the liquidator BSA established under Daimler Hire Limited, Frank Searle, Daimler Airway and Daimler Air Hire. The group's assets he required were bought by Geoffrey de Havilland to form de Havilland Aircraft Company in 1920.

List of Airco Aircraft

• DH.1 (1915) — Two-seat biplane fighter with single pusher propeller
• DH.2 (1915) — One-seat biplane fighter with single pusher propeller
• DH.3 (1916) — Two-engine biplane bomber. Two prototypes only built; formed basis for later DH.10 design
• DH.4 (1916) — Two-seat biplane day bomber with single tractor propeller
• DH.5 (1916) — One-seat biplane fighter with single tractor propeller
• DH.6 (1916) — Two-seat biplane training aircraft with single tractor propeller
• DH.9 (1917) — Two-seat biplane day bomber with single tractor propeller.
  • DH.9A
  • DH.9C
• DH.8 (1918) — Development of DH.9 with more powerful engine and greater wingspan
• DH.10 Amiens (1918) — Two-engine biplane bomber. First prototype used pusher propeller; second prototype and production aircraft used tractor propellers. Manufactured by Daimler.
• DH.11 Oxford (1919) Variant of DH.10 with radial engines. One prototype built; not produced
• DH.16 (1919) — Variant of DH.9A with cabin for four passengers. Used as airliner
• DH.18 (1920) — Single-engine biplane airliner. Cabin for eight passengers

Notes

1. The Times, Monday, Mar 01, 1920; pg. 14; Issue 42347
2. Dudley Docker: The Life and Times of a Trade Warrior R. P. T. Davenport-Hines 1984 Cambridge University Press

References

v t e Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom
Economy of the United Kingdom Manufacturing in the United Kingdom
companies	current AD Aerospace Airbus UK Airbus Defence and Space Surrey Satellite Technology AirTanker Services Babcock International BAE Systems Military Air Solutions Eurofighter GmbH (33%) MBDA (37.5% as MBDA UK) BBA Aviation Boeing Defence UK British Airways Engineering Britten-Norman Chemring Group Cobham Technical Services Draken Europe Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Europa Aircraft General Dynamics UK GE Aviation Systems GFS Projects GKN Hybrid Air Vehicles IRVIN-GQ Leonardo AgustaWestland Finmeccanica UK Ltd Lockheed Martin UK Marshall Aerospace Martin-Baker Meggitt Qinetiq Rolls-Royce Rotol Safran Landing Systems Selex ES Short Brothers Skyrora Swift Aircraft Telespazio VEGA Thales Air Defence Thales Optronics TUI Airways Ultra Electronics defunct ADC Aircraft Abbott-Baynes Sailplanes ABC Motors Air Navigation and Engineering Company Airco The Airscrew Company Airship Industries Airspeed Airwork Services Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Arrow Aircraft Auster Austin Motor Company Aviation Traders Avro Beagle Aircraft William Beardmore and Company Blackburn Aircraft Boulton & Paul Boulton Paul Aircraft Bristol Aeroplane Company British Aerial Transport British Aerospace British Aircraft Company British Aircraft Corporation British Aircraft Manufacturing BTR Aerospace Central Aircraft Company Chilton Aircraft Chrislea Aircraft Clayton & Shuttleworth Comper Aircraft Company Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft Dart Aircraft de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School Propellers Desoutter Aircraft Company Dowty Group Dunlop Standard Aerospace ED Abbott Edgar Percival Aircraft Elliotts of Newbury English Electric Euravia Fairey Aviation Company Fane Aircraft Company Ferranti Folland Aircraft Foster, Wikner Aircraft Garland Aircraft Company General Aircraft General Electric Company Gloster Aircraft Company Grahame-White Handley Page Hants and Sussex Aviation Hawker Aircraft Hawker Siddeley Heston Aircraft Company Hewlett & Blondeau Hordern-Richmond Hunting Aircraft Kingsbury Aviation Lakes Flying Company Lindstrand Technologies Luton Aircraft M. B. Arpin & Co. Marconi Company Electronic Systems Martinsyde Matra Marconi Space Miles Aircraft Moss Brothers Aircraft D. Napier & Son Nash & Thompson National Aircraft Factory No. 2 Nieuport & General Aircraft Norman Thompson Flight Company Parnall Parnall & Sons Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot Lang Propellers Reaction Engines Reid and Sigrist Rollason Aircraft and Engines Royal Aircraft Establishment Saunders-Roe Scottish Aviation Seaplane Experimental Station SELEX Galileo SELEX Sistemi Integrati Siddeley-Deasy Sopwith Aviation Company Spartan Aircraft Supermarine Vickers Vickers-Armstrongs Westland Aircraft Westland Helicopters J. Samuel White
government and regulatory bodies	Civil Aviation Authority Defence Electronics and Components Agency Defence Science and Technology Laboratory European Aviation Safety Agency
related topics	ADS Group Farnborough International Airshow NATS Holdings NDI UK ParcAberporth Royal Aeronautical Society Royal International Air Tattoo Society of British Aerospace Companies
Category

• Articles lacking sources from October 2008
• Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United Kingdom
• De Havilland
• Companies established in 1912