Alliot Verdon Roe was the first Englishman to fly an all British manufactured aeroplane in 1909. He formed his own company, A.V.Roe Aircraft Co.

Perhaps the biggest contribution Roy Chadwick, Avro’s designer, made to the company, was designing the Lancaster. This four engined heavy bomber was one of the major aircraft in Bomber Command, and after the war, Air Chief Marshal A Harris said it would have been difficult to carry out the bombing campaign against Germany, if it had not been available.

In the immediate post war ‘atomic’ period, Avro designed the Vulcan ‘Delta’ winged bomber. This aircraft entered service with the RAF in 1956 and flew until 1984, with its famous raid on the Falkland Islands in 1982.