Founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, A.V. Roe and Company Limited built its first military aircraft two years later. By 1914 the company was literally flying when it designed the first of many iconic aircraft in the shape of the Avro 504 which sold in colossal numbers and was the key factor in keeping the company in the aviation industry after the end of the First World War, while many others fell by the wayside. 504 production continued into the 1920s and despite this lean period, orders were secured for the Aldershot and Bison, but by the end of the 1920s it was the Tutor which saw the production lines fill to capacity again. Although an obvious contraction of orders took place during the post war years Avro was, thanks to its earlier successes, a big player in the British aviation industry and would continue to produce an iconic range of military aircraft. On the back of the Lancaster, the Lincoln and Shackleton were ordered in large numbers for the RAF and the most famous jet-powered delta bomber of all, the Vulcan kept the company at the forefront. However, the long-term plan of reducing the number of aircraft manufacturers first envisaged in the 1930s began to take hold in the 1960s when BAC and Hawker Siddeley encompassed all of the country's surviving companies. This company profile is the first of several which will have to be divided into two parts, one military and one civilian, although there will be some cross-over as many types served in both capacities. Avro deserves two entries in the series and I trust, as always, that this bookazine gives a good grounding to the huge and diverse range of aircraft that this once proud manufacturer produced

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