Daimler Airway: Difference between revisions

Daimler Airway
Founded	9 September 1921
Commenced operations	April 1922
Ceased operations	1 April 1924; (merged with British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd, Handley Page Transport and Instone Air Line to form Imperial Airways)
Operating bases	Alexandra Park Aerodrome, England
Hubs	Croydon Airport, London, England
Fleet size	6 de Havilland DH.34
Destinations	Amsterdam; Hanover; Berlin;
Parent company	Birmingham Small Arms Company group's Daimler Company

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Daimler Airway was an airline subsidiary of the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA)'s Daimler Company. It was created to use some of the assets of the failed ventures Airco and its subsidiary, Aircraft Transport and Travel, which was acquired by BSA in February 1920.

History

Daimler Company established Daimler Air Hire as a private air hire company on 7 June 1919. Daimler Hire's managing director was Lieutenant Colonel Frank Searle CB, DSO, who had also been a senior manager of Daimler prior to his war service. During the First World War Daimler had acquired considerable aviation experience manufacturing aero engines and aircraft, including bombers. They built Gnome Monosoupape and Le Rhone engines under Airco's licence. The last wartime aircraft Daimler produced was the Airco DH.10 Amiens bomber when they were building 80 aeroplanes a month. Their own test-ground beside the Daimler factory had been compulsorily purchased to become the main RAF testing ground for aircraft built in the Coventry district.^[1]

Airco and Aircraft Transport and Travel

In February 1920 the BSA group acquired Holt Thomas's failing Airco group and placed Airco subsidiary Aircraft Transport and Travel (Air Express) under the responsibility of Searle and Daimler Hire. In November 1920 BSA withdrew its financial support and AT&T, Air Express was placed in the hands of a liquidator.

Daimler Airway

In February 1921 those assets needed to form a new business to continue Air Express were purchased from the liquidator (Searle) to form what became Daimler Airway. When tenders were called by the Air Ministry for civil air services Searle and Woods Humphery persuaded the BSA-Daimler group to make a tender. It was accepted by the Air Ministry on 9 September 1921.^[2]

Searle remained managing director. Major George E Woods Humphery, an engineer and a former RFC pilot and general manager of Handley-Page Transport from June 1919, was appointed manager of Daimler Airway.^[2]

Beginning in April 1922 Daimler Airway, became the first company to operate de Havilland DH.34 single-engined cabin biplanes. A total of six were operated, the first (registration G-EBBQ),^[3] flying from Croydon Airport London to Paris.^[4]

Managing their aircraft as Daimler Hire managed their cars – each to be used a minimum of 20,000 miles a year – Daimler Airway set its standard at 1,000 hours per year per aircraft (later raised at Imperial Airways to 2000 hours a year). This and other control of overheads let Daimler run much more efficiently than its competitors. Their DH34s were good reliable aircraft but in winter heavily muffled passengers missed heating in the cabins.^[2]

From October 1922 until early 1924, Daimler Airway operated daily scheduled flights from Alexandra Park Aerodrome Manchester to Croydon Airport London. The northbound flight left Croydon in the late afternoon and the southbound flight departed Alexandra Park during the next morning. This timing enabled passengers from the north of England to connect at Croydon with Daimler's continental schedules.

In 1923 Daimler added further routes from Croydon to Amsterdam, Hanover and Berlin using their DH.34 fleet. This route dealt with floods of passengers. Woods Humphery was to succeed Searle (who was forced out) as general manager of Imperial Airways in 1925.^[2]

Imperial Airways

Daimler Airway merged with Handley Page Transport, Instone Air Line and British Marine Air Navigation into Imperial Airways (IAL) effective 1 April 1924,^[5] bringing along its three remaining de Havilland DH.34 aircraft. IAL immediately discontinued Daimler's route to the north of England, the monopoly airline not being interested in serving any UK points outside London. Daimler's Searle and Woods Humphery were respectively appointed Imperial Airways' Managing Director and General Manager. Woods Humphery was to become managing director of Imperial Airways in 1930.^[6]

Accidents and incidents

One de Havilland DH.18A aircraft, (registration G-EAWO) was transferred from Instone Air Line to Daimler Hire Ltd for operation on the Croydon-Paris route until the De Havilland DH.34s that Daimler had on order could be delivered. On 7 April 1922, two days after Daimler commenced operations with the aircraft, it collided with a Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens Farman Goliath (registration F-GEAD) over Picardie, France,^[7] 60 miles (97 km) north of Paris. Seven people died in the first mid-air collision between airliners.^[8]^[9]

As best as could be established each pilot was looking down to follow the Abbeville-Beauvais road, their height matching the downward visibility.^[2]

On 14 September 1923, de Havilland DH.34 G-EBBS operating the evening service from Croydon to Manchester crashed near Ivinghoe Beacon, Buckinghamshire, during an attempted forced landing due to bad weather. Pilots Pratt and Robinson and their three passengers were killed. This was the first fatal accident on a UK internal scheduled air service.

References

^ Lord Montagu and David Burgess-Wise Daimler Century ; Stephens 1995 ISBN 1-85260-494-8
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Robin Higham, Britain's Imperial Air Routes 1918 to 1939, 1960, G T Foulis & Co, London
^ DH.34 (in French)
^ British Airline History, London Metropolitan University (2004) Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
^ The Times, Thursday, 17 Dec 1953; pg. 7; Issue 52807; col F. Jubilee In The Air II – British Pioneers On World Highways By Our Aeronautical Correspondent.
^ Imperial Airways Survey Of The Company's Affairs, Increase In Traffics, Profits Affected By Adverse Conditions, The Subsidy And Obsolescence, Divergent Departmental Views, Success Of Service To India, Sir Eric Geddes On Air Mail Charges The Times, Tuesday, 30 Sep 1930; pg. 19; Issue 45631
^ Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2. London: Putnam, 1973. ISBN 0-370-10010-7.
^ DH.18 from jnpassieux.chez-alice.fr (in French)
^ "Review Of ACAS RA Downlink, An assessment of the technical feasibility and operational usefulness of providing ACAS RA awareness on CWP" (PDF). p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.

External links

British Airways history 1920–1929

[DCMB-1] Lord Montagu and David Burgess-Wise Daimler Century ; Stephens 1995 ISBN 1-85260-494-8

[RH-2] Robin Higham, Britain's Imperial Air Routes 1918 to 1939, 1960, G T Foulis & Co, London

[3] DH.34 (in French)

[4] British Airline History, London Metropolitan University (2004) Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine

[5] The Times, Thursday, 17 Dec 1953; pg. 7; Issue 52807; col F. Jubilee In The Air II – British Pioneers On World Highways By Our Aeronautical Correspondent.

[6] Imperial Airways Survey Of The Company's Affairs, Increase In Traffics, Profits Affected By Adverse Conditions, The Subsidy And Obsolescence, Divergent Departmental Views, Success Of Service To India, Sir Eric Geddes On Air Mail Charges The Times, Tuesday, 30 Sep 1930; pg. 19; Issue 45631

[jacksonv2-7] Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2. London: Putnam, 1973. ISBN 0-370-10010-7.

[8] DH.18 from jnpassieux.chez-alice.fr (in French)

[9] "Review Of ACAS RA Downlink, An assessment of the technical feasibility and operational usefulness of providing ACAS RA awareness on CWP" (PDF). p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Defunct airline of the United Kingdom (1921–1924)}}
-'''Daimler Airway''' was an airline subsidiary of  [[Birmingham Small Arms Company|BSA]] group's [[Daimler Company]] created to use some of the assets of the failed ventures [[Airco]] and its subsidiary [[Aircraft Transport and Travel]] acquired by BSA in February 1920.
+{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
+{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
+{{Infobox airline
+| airline          = Daimler Airway
+| logo             =
+| caption          =
+| IATA             =
+| ICAO             =
+| callsign         =
+| founded          = {{start date|1921|09|09|df=yes}}
+| commenced        = {{start date|1922|04||df=yes}}
+| ceased           = {{end date|1924|04|01|df=yes}}<br />(merged with [[British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd]], [[Handley Page Transport]] and [[Instone Air Line]] to form [[Imperial Airways]])
+| bases            = [[Alexandra Park Aerodrome]], [[England]]
+| hubs             = [[Croydon Airport]], [[London]], England
+| fleet_size       = 6 [[de Havilland DH.34]]
+| destinations     = {{ubl|class=nowrap
+  | [[Amsterdam]]
+  | [[Hanover]]
+  | [[Berlin]]}}
+| parent           = [[Birmingham Small Arms Company]] group's [[Daimler Company]]
+| headquarters     =
+| key_people       =
+| num_employees    =
+| website          =
+}}
+'''Daimler Airway''' was an airline subsidiary of the [[Birmingham Small Arms Company]] (BSA)'s [[Daimler Company]].  It was created to use some of the assets of the failed ventures [[Airco]] and its subsidiary, [[Aircraft Transport and Travel]], which was acquired by BSA in February 1920.
 ==History==
-Daimler had previously established, June 7, 1919, '''Daimler Air Hire''' as a private air hire company. [[Daimler Hire]]'s managing director was Lieutenant Colonel [[Frank Searle (1874-1948)|Frank Searle]] [[Companion in The Most Honourable Order of the Bath|CB]], [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]], who had also been a senior manager of Daimler prior to his war service. During the war Daimler had acquired considerable aviation experience manufacturing [[Daimler Company#War work I|aero engines and aircraft]] including bombers. They built [[Gnome Monosoupape]] and [[Le Rhône|Le Rhone]] engines under Airco's licence. The last wartime aircraft Daimler produced was the [[Airco DH.10]] bomber when they were building 80 aeroplanes a month. Their own test-ground beside the Daimler factory had been compulsorily purchased to become the main RAF testing ground for aircraft built in the Coventry district.<ref name=DCMB>Lord Montagu and David Burgess-Wise ''Daimler Century'' ; Stephens 1995 ISBN 1-85260-494-8</ref>
+Daimler Company established '''Daimler Air Hire''' as a private air hire company on 7 June 1919. [[Daimler Hire]]'s managing director was Lieutenant Colonel [[Frank Searle (1874-1948)|Frank Searle]] [[Companion in The Most Honourable Order of the Bath|CB]], [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]], who had also been a senior manager of Daimler prior to his war service. During the [[First World War]] Daimler had acquired considerable aviation experience manufacturing [[Daimler Company#War work I|aero engines and aircraft]], including bombers. They built [[Gnome Monosoupape]] and [[Le Rhône|Le Rhone]] engines under Airco's licence. The last wartime aircraft Daimler produced was the [[Airco DH.10 Amiens]] bomber when they were building 80 aeroplanes a month. Their own test-ground beside the Daimler factory had been compulsorily purchased to become the main [[RAF]] testing ground for aircraft built in the Coventry district.<ref name=DCMB>Lord Montagu and David Burgess-Wise ''Daimler Century'' ; Stephens 1995 {{ISBN|1-85260-494-8}}</ref>
 ===Airco and Aircraft Transport and Travel===
 In February 1920 the BSA group acquired [[George Holt Thomas|Holt Thomas]]'s failing [[Airco]] group and placed Airco subsidiary [[Aircraft Transport and Travel]] (Air Express) under the responsibility of Searle and Daimler Hire. In November 1920 BSA withdrew its financial support and AT&T, Air Express was placed in the hands of a liquidator.
 ===Daimler Airway===
 [[File:DH34 Biplane 1.jpg|thumb|right|De Havilland DH.34<br>Daimler Airway livery red and white]]
-In February 1921 those assets needed to form a new business to continue Air Express were purchased from the liquidator (Searle) to form what became '''Daimler Airway'''. When tenders were called by the Air Ministry for civil air services Searle and Woods Humphery persuaded the BSA-Daimler group to make a tender. It was accepted by the Air Ministry on 9 September 1921.<ref name=RH>Robin Higham, ''Britain's Imperial Air Routes 1918 to1939,'' 1960, G T Foulis & Co, London</ref>
+In February 1921 those assets needed to form a new business to continue Air Express were purchased from the liquidator (Searle) to form what became Daimler Airway. When tenders were called by the Air Ministry for civil air services Searle and Woods Humphery persuaded the BSA-Daimler group to make a tender. It was accepted by the Air Ministry on 9 September 1921.<ref name=RH>Robin Higham, ''Britain's Imperial Air Routes 1918 to 1939,'' 1960, G T Foulis & Co, London</ref>
 Searle remained managing director. Major George E Woods Humphery, an engineer and a former RFC pilot and general manager of Handley-Page Transport from June 1919, was appointed manager of Daimler Airway.<ref name=RH/>
-Beginning in April 1922 Daimler Airway, became the first company to operate [[de Havilland DH.34]] single-engined cabin biplanes.  A total of six were operated, the first (registration G-EBBQ),<ref>[http://jnpassieux.chez-alice.fr/html/Dh34.php DH.34 (in French)]</ref> flying from [[Croydon Airport]] London to [[Paris]].<ref>[http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/depts/bssm/aviation/precourse2004/british_airline_history3_0.pdf British Airline History, London Metropolitan University (2004)]</ref>
+Beginning in April 1922 Daimler Airway, became the first company to operate [[de Havilland DH.34]] single-engined cabin biplanes.  A total of six were operated, the first (registration G-EBBQ),<ref>[http://jnpassieux.chez-alice.fr/html/Dh34.php DH.34 (in French)]</ref> flying from [[Croydon Airport]] London to Paris.<ref>[http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/depts/bssm/aviation/precourse2004/british_airline_history3_0.pdf British Airline History, London Metropolitan University (2004)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930061353/http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/depts/bssm/aviation/precourse2004/british_airline_history3_0.pdf |date=30 September 2007 }}</ref>
-Managing their aircraft as Daimler Hire managed their cars - each to be used a minimum of 20,000 miles a year - Daimler Airway set its standard at 1,000 hours per year per aircraft (later raised at Imperial Airways to 2000 hours a year). This and other control of overheads let Daimler run much more efficiently than its competitors. Their DH34s were good reliable aircraft but in winter heavily muffled passengers missed heating in the cabins.<ref name=RH/>
+Managing their aircraft as Daimler Hire managed their cars – each to be used a minimum of 20,000 miles a year – Daimler Airway set its standard at 1,000 hours per year per aircraft (later raised at Imperial Airways to 2000 hours a year). This and other control of overheads let Daimler run much more efficiently than its competitors. Their DH34s were good reliable aircraft but in winter heavily muffled passengers missed heating in the cabins.<ref name=RH/>
 From October 1922 until early 1924, Daimler Airway operated daily scheduled flights from [[Alexandra Park Aerodrome]] Manchester to Croydon Airport London.  The northbound flight left Croydon in the late afternoon and the southbound flight departed Alexandra Park during the next morning. This timing enabled passengers from the north of England to connect at Croydon with Daimler's continental schedules.
 In 1923 Daimler added further routes from Croydon to Amsterdam, Hanover and Berlin using their DH.34 fleet. This route dealt with floods of passengers. Woods Humphery was to succeed Searle (who was forced out) as general manager of Imperial Airways in 1925.<ref name=RH/>
 ===Imperial Airways===
-Daimler Airway merged with [[Handley Page Transport]], [[Instone Air Line]] and [[British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd|British Marine Air Navigation]] into [[Imperial Airways]] (IAL) effective 1 April 1924,<ref>''The Times'', Thursday, Dec 17, 1953; pg. 7; Issue 52807; col F. ''Jubilee In The Air II'' - British Pioneers On World Highways By Our Aeronautical Correspondent.</ref> bringing along its three remaining [[de Havilland DH.34]] aircraft. IAL immediately discontinued Daimler's route to the north of England, the monopoly airline not being interested in serving any UK points outside of London. Daimler's Searle and Woods Humphery were respectively appointed Imperial Airways' Managing Director and General Manager. Woods Humphery was to become managing director of Imperial Airways in 1930.<ref>Imperial Airways Survey Of The Company's Affairs, Increase In Traffics, Profits Affected By Adverse Conditions, The Subsidy And Obsolescence, Divergent Departmental Views, Success Of Service To India, Sir Eric Geddes On Air Mail Charges ''The Times'', Tuesday, Sep 30, 1930; pg. 19; Issue 45631</ref>
+Daimler Airway merged with [[Handley Page Transport]], [[Instone Air Line]] and [[British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd|British Marine Air Navigation]] into [[Imperial Airways]] (IAL) effective 1 April 1924,<ref>''The Times'', Thursday, 17 Dec 1953; pg. 7; Issue 52807; col F. ''Jubilee In The Air II'' – British Pioneers On World Highways By Our Aeronautical Correspondent.</ref> bringing along its three remaining [[de Havilland DH.34]] aircraft. IAL immediately discontinued Daimler's route to the north of England, the monopoly airline not being interested in serving any UK points outside London. Daimler's Searle and Woods Humphery were respectively appointed Imperial Airways' Managing Director and General Manager. Woods Humphery was to become managing director of Imperial Airways in 1930.<ref>Imperial Airways Survey Of The Company's Affairs, Increase In Traffics, Profits Affected By Adverse Conditions, The Subsidy And Obsolescence, Divergent Departmental Views, Success Of Service To India, Sir Eric Geddes On Air Mail Charges ''The Times'', Tuesday, 30 Sep 1930; pg. 19; Issue 45631</ref>
 ==Accidents and incidents==
 [[File:De havilland dh-18.jpg|thumb|right|Instone de Havilland DH.18]]
-One [[de Havilland DH.18|de Havilland DH.18A]] aircraft, (registration G-EAWO) was transferred from [[Instone Air Line]] to Daimler Hire Ltd for operation on the Croydon-Paris route until the [[De Havilland DH.34]]s which Daimler had on order could be delivered. However, on 7 April 1922, two days after Daimler commenced operations with the aircraft, it collided with a [[Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens]] [[Farman F.60|Farman Goliath]] (registration F-GEAD) over [[Picardie]], France, <ref name="jacksonv2">Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2''. London: Putnam, 1973. ISBN 0-370-10010-7.</ref> {{convert|60|mi|km|0}} north of Paris. Seven people died in the [[First midair collision of airliners|first mid-air collision between airliners]].<ref>[http://jnpassieux.chez-alice.fr/html/Dh18.php DH.18 from jnpassieux.chez-alice.fr (in French)]</ref><ref>
+One [[de Havilland DH.18|de Havilland DH.18A]] aircraft, (registration G-EAWO) was transferred from [[Instone Air Line]] to Daimler Hire Ltd for operation on the Croydon-Paris route until the [[De Havilland DH.34]]s that Daimler had on order could be delivered. On 7 April 1922, two days after Daimler commenced operations with the aircraft, it collided with a [[Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens]] [[Farman F.60|Farman Goliath]] (registration F-GEAD) over [[Picardie]], France,<ref name="jacksonv2">Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2''. London: Putnam, 1973. {{ISBN|0-370-10010-7}}.</ref> {{convert|60|mi|km|0}} north of Paris. Seven people died in the [[First midair collision of airliners|first mid-air collision between airliners]].<ref>[http://jnpassieux.chez-alice.fr/html/Dh18.php DH.18 from jnpassieux.chez-alice.fr (in French)]</ref><ref>{{cite web
+|url=http://www.eurocontrol.int/ra-downlink/gallery/content/public/library/Review_of_ACAS_RA_Downlink_ver_10.pdf
-{{cite web
+|title=Review Of ACAS RA Downlink, An assessment of the technical feasibility and operational usefulness of providing ACAS RA awareness on CWP
-|url=http://www.eurocontrol.int/ra-downlink/gallery/content/public/library/Review_of_ACAS_RA_Downlink_ver_10.pdf
+|accessdate=2007-06-17
-|title= Review Of ACAS RA Downlink, An assessment of the technical feasibility and operational usefulness of providing ACAS RA awareness on CWP
-|accessdate=2007-06-17
-|format= pdf
-|work=
 |page=20
+|archive-date=27 September 2007
+|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927013525/http://www.eurocontrol.int/ra-downlink/gallery/content/public/library/Review_of_ACAS_RA_Downlink_ver_10.pdf
+|url-status=dead
 }}</ref>
@@ Line 37: / Line 66: @@
 On 14 September 1923, de Havilland DH.34 G-EBBS operating the evening service from Croydon to Manchester [[1923 Daimler Airway de Havilland DH.34 crash|crashed]] near [[Ivinghoe Beacon]], [[Buckinghamshire]], during an attempted forced landing due to bad weather.  Pilots Pratt and Robinson and their three passengers were killed.  This was the first fatal accident on a UK internal scheduled air service.
+==See also==
+* [[List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom]]
 ==References==
-{{Reflist}}
+{{reflist|30em}}
+==Further reading==
+*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071013040259/http://www.imperial-airways.com/History_page_1.html Imperial Airways History]
+*[http://www.century-of-flight.net/new%20site/commercial/uk_civil.htm The History of British Airways ''Century of Flight''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022034345/http://www.century-of-flight.net/new%20site/commercial/uk_civil.htm |date=22 October 2017 }}
 ==External links==
-[http://www.britishairways.com/travel/history-1920-1929/public/en_gb British Airways history 1920-1929]
+* [http://www.britishairways.com/travel/history-1920-1929/public/en_gb British Airways history 1920–1929]
-==Further reading==
-*[http://www.imperial-airways.com/History_page_1.html Imperial Airways History]
-*[http://www.century-of-flight.net/new%20site/commercial/uk_civil.htm The History of British Airways ''Century of Flight'']
+{{Portal bar|United Kingdom|Companies|Aviation}}
+{{Airlines of the United Kingdom}}
 [[Category:Airlines established in 1919]]