top of page

The AVRO Transport Co. &Joyriding

(Monochrome Photograph - Avro Transport Co. 504Ks on the beach at Birkdale, Southport, July 1919.)

With the end of the War many pilots were looking for jobs in aviation and the Avro Co. wanted to sell aero planes. Precisely whose idea it was to merge the two and provide air experience flights for the general public is not now known but a number of companies sprang into existence simultaneously in early 1919.

A. V. Roe and Co. was one of the first. At the Hamble facility, three 504Ks carried 359 passengers at a £1 each on the first day of the 1919 Easter holiday. Encouraged by this, within a month, a subsidiary the Avro Transport Co. (ATC) was set up at Birkdale Palace aerodrome, Southport and many leading pilots of the day were recruited and based throughout the UK. They flew 504Ksmodified to carry two passengers in the back and Ls, the floatplane variant, alongside the 536s which carried four in the back.

Avro's new organisation was broadly divided to cover 'Southern' areas (Hounslow Heath, Manston, Southsea, Brighton, Paignton, Weston-super-Mare and Porthcawl) under Capt. Duncan Davis and 'Northern' counterparts (Blackpool, Southport, Rhyl, Fleetwood and Manchester) with G. P. L Henderson in charge. The ATC also established 'joy-riding' facilities at Douglas, Isle of Man and Windermere.

Much attention was paid to 'Wakes-Weeks', when aerial attractions proved especially popular with the industrial holiday makers. However, the success of pleasure flight operators was highly dependent on the weather. It therefore came as a severe blow when in mid-August ferocious storms caused much damage to the Avro machines pegged out on beaches and elsewhere.

Unfortunately, despite being very popular there were insufficient passengers to sustain such a large operation and the ATC ceased operations in 1920. However, several smaller companies, with only the odd aeroplane and living 'from hand to mouth', soldiered on well into the 1920sand early 1930s.

(Monochrome Photograph - G PILOT MR. S. SUMMERFIELD.G-EBSE W CORAL AVATION CL ST AUSTELL CORNWALL AVIATION CO LTD, SI AUSTELL, CORNWALL.AVRO 504 K. G-EBSE.TS.
A contemporary post-card from themid-1920s presented to Joy-Riding passengers after their flight.)

bottom of page