100 Years of Flight on the Fylde

Beginning with the A V Roe story in 1908 Manchester.  England's first officially recognised Air Display week, Squires Gate Blackpool 18th -23rd October 1909.  Captain Sir John Alcock, St Annes.  First pilot to fly across the Atlantic 1919.  Amy Johnson's fatal flight from Blackpool 1941 and much more for aviation historians. 

Aircraft - The Early Years, WW1 and Inter-war

English Electric P.5 Kingston Mk II coastal patrol and anti-submarine flying boat, Lytham Works, Lancashire c.1925 Photos from 'Triplane to Typhoon: Aircraft produced by factories in Lancashire and the North West of England from 1910' by James H. Longworth, ISBN 1899907971.

Ever since the Blackpool 'Flying Week' of 1909 Lancashire and the North West has been at the forefront of developments in the industry and in aviation generally. In June 1908 the Lancastrian aeronautical pioneer, Alliot Verdon Roe, made his first flight in his 24hp Roe I Biplane. In 1910 he established the world's first registered aeroplane company in Manchester exclusively for the series manufacture of aircraft, the first being the Roe II Triplane. Products carrying the "Avro" name range from the Avro Triplane built in Manchester in 1910 to the Avro 504 of WW1 and the inter-war years, the WW2 Lancaster and post-war Vulcan, the Avro 748 and the BAE Systems Avro Regional jet airliner of today.

For further information on aviation history in the North West and Lancashire please see:  http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/office_of_the_chief_executive/lancashireprofile/misc/indexaerospace.asp