Airco

The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was established in 1912 by George Holt Thomas at The Hyde in Hendon, north London, England. Two years later, learning that Geoffrey de Havilland, who was then at the Royal Aircraft Factory in Farnborough, might be available, Holt Thomas invited de Havilland to join Airco as chief designer. De Havilland's Airco designs were to provide around 30% of all trainers, fighters and bombers used by Britain and the United States during the First World War. De Havilland's designs for Airco were marked with his initials "DH". The first great success was the Pusher configuration fighter DH.2 of 1916, that helped to end the "Fokker scourge" of 1915. Later notable aircraft produced during the war were...