Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of

Textron Textron Inc. is an American industrial conglomerate based in Providence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries include Arctic Cat, Bell Textron, Textron Aviation (which itself includes the Beechcraft, and Cessna brands), and Lycoming Engin ...

which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming.

History

The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Company by

Clement Melville Keys Clement Melville Keys (April 7, 1876 – January 12, 1952) was a financier involved in the establishment of many aviation companies including Curtiss-Wright, China National Aviation Corporation, North American Aviation and TWA. He has been ca ...

, who planned on buying

Curtiss aircraft Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decade ...

rather than Sherman Fairchild's. With capital from Fairchild, George Hann, the

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, a ...

, and W. A. Harriman, the

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

began acquiring small airlines. By the end of 1929, it had acquired interests in over 90 aviation-related companies. In January 1930, the board broke off the airlines into

Colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

and Universal Air Lines. Universal Air Lines name was changed to American Airways, and later merged with Colonial to form

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

. The company was required to divest American Airlines in 1934 due to new rules for air mail contracts. The Aviation Corporation ranked 32nd among United States corporations in the value of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

production contracts. Two months after World War II ended the Aviation Corporation branched into the manufacture of

farm machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that they ...

with its acquisition of the New Idea Company in October 1945. The company later changed its name to Avco Manufacturing Corporation, and then, in 1959, to Avco Corporation. In 1984 Avco sold its farm machinery division to

White Farm Equipment White Farm Equipment is a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, now discontinued except for planters, and owned by AGCO. History In 1960, the White Motor Company entered the agriculture market with the purchase of the Oliver Farm Equipment ...

and Avco was purchased by Textron. Avco's affiliated company, Avco Financial Services, was spun off to Associates First Capital in 1998, which itself was acquired by Citigroup in 2000.

Early companies bought or merged by Avco

*Aviation Corporation formed March 29, 1929 *

Southern Air Transport Southern Air Transport (SAT) (1947–1998), based in Miami, Florida, was a cargo airline best known as a front company for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (1960–1973) and for its crucial role in the Iran-Contra scandal in the m ...

*Colonial Air Lines – May 1929 *Colonial Western – May 1929 *

Canadian Colonial Airways Canadian Colonial Airways was founded in 1929 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In 1942, it reformed as Colonial Airlines, which was later absorbed by Eastern Air Lines. Cities Served *Albany, New York *Buffalo, New York *Montreal, Quebec, Canada *N ...

May 1929 * Embry-Riddle Aviation Corporation – Summer 1929, Embry-Riddle Flying School closed 1930 *Interstate Airlines – CAM-30 Summer 1929 *Fairchild Aircraft *

Wien Air Alaska Wien Air Alaska (IATA: WC) was a United States airline formed from Northern Consolidated Airlines (NCA) and Wien Alaska Airways. The company was famous for being the first airline in Alaska, and one of the first in the United States; it ceased ope ...

Kreider-Reisner The Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company was an American flying service and aircraft manufacturer from 1923 to 1929. History The Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company was formed at Hagerstown, Maryland in 1923 as a sub-contractor. By September 1925 the c ...

*The Superplane Company *Universal Air Line System Terminal Company *Midplane Sales and Transit Company *Northern Airplane Company *Air Transportation, Inc. *Robertson Flying School Inc. *Egyptian Airways Inc. (Marion Illinois) *

Universal Aviation Corporation Universal Aviation Corporation was an airline holding company based in United States. History Universal Aviation Corporation was stood up to merge operations of Universal Air Lines Corporation, Robertson Aircraft Corporation and Northern Air ...

– bought by Avco in 1930 *Universal Aviation Schools *

Roosevelt Field, New York Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located east-southeast of Mineola, Long Island, New York. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aerodrome, it was a training field (Hazel ...

*Curtiss Field *

Southwest Air Fast Express Southwest Air Fast Express (SAFE), also known as S.A.F.E.way, was a United States airline. It was founded by Erle P. Halliburton, the founder of the New Method Oil Well Cementing Company (now known as Halliburton), and Zero Halliburton, a brief ...

June 1931

Avco timeline

*1929 Aviation Corporation (AVCO) holding company formed by multiple participants *1932 Airplane Development Corporation formed as a subsidiary of the Cord Corporation by Gerard F. "Jerry" Vultee *1934 AVCO acquired the Airplane Development Corporation from Cord and formed the Aviation Manufacturing Corporation (AMC) *1936 AMC liquidated to form the Vultee Aircraft Division, an autonomous subsidiary of AVCO *1939 Vultee Aircraft Division of AVCO reorganized as an independent company known as Vultee Aircraft, Inc. *1940 Barkley-Grow Aircraft acquired by AVCO *1941 Consolidated Aircraft Corporation sold to AVCO *1943 Consolidated-Vultee, known as

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, i ...

, formed by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft; still controlled by AVCO *1945 AVCO acquired the New Idea Company from the heirs of Joseph Oppenheim who founded the farm machinery manufacturer in 1899. *1945 AVCO acquired

Crosley Crosley was a small, independent American manufacturer of subcompact cars, bordering on microcars. At first called the Crosley Corporation and later Crosley Motors Incorporated, the Cincinnati, Ohio, firm was active from 1939 to 1952, inter ...

Corporation from Powel Crosley Jr. *1947 Convair acquired by the

Atlas Corporation The Atlas Corporation is an American investment firm that was formed in 1928. Atlas invested in and managed a number of major US companies during the 20th century and has a number of investments in natural resources. History Atlas corporation wa ...

*1947 AVCO name changed to Avco Manufacturing Corporation *1951 Purchased Bendix Home Appliances,

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

manufacturer of automatic clothes washers, combining Bendix Appliances with Crosley Appliances *1956 Avco sold Bendix Home Appliances to

Philco Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics industry, electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchased ...

*1959 Avco Manufacturing Corporation name changed to Avco Corporation *1966 Avco acquired

Carte Blanche A blank cheque in the literal sense is a cheque that has no monetary value written in, but is already signed. In the figurative sense, it is used to describe a situation in which an agreement has been made that is open-ended or vague, and therefo ...

charge cards from First National City Bank *1967 Avco acquires Embassy Pictures *1968 Avco acquires the developer of Rancho Bernardo, San Diego *1971 Avco acquires a stake in the developer of

Laguna Niguel, California Laguna Niguel () is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The name Laguna Niguel is derived from the words "Laguna" (Spanish for "lagoon") and "Niguili" (the name of a Native American village once located near Aliso Creek). As of ...

*1975-1977 Crosley Broadcasting stations divested *1976 Sold rights to Crosley Appliances to Crosley Corporation, a new distributor who contracted for appliances from companies such as

Whirlpool Corporation The Whirlpool Corporation is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of home appliances, headquartered in Benton Charter Township, Michigan, United States. The Fortune 500 company has annual revenue of approximately $21 billion, ...

and

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool. Electrolux products sell under a variety ...

*1978 Sold Carte Blanche to Citibank *1982 Sold Embassy Pictures to Norman Lear and

Jerry Perenchio Andrew Jerrold Perenchio (December 20, 1930 – May 23, 2017) was an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He was at one time the chairman and chief executive officer of Univision. Early life Perenchio was the grandson of Italian ...

*1984 Avco sold the New Idea line of farm machinery to

Allied Corporation Allied Corp. was a major American company with operations in the chemical, aerospace, automotive, oil and gas industries. It was initially formed in 1920 as the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation as an amalgamation of five chemical companies. In ...

, which then purchased the

, forming White-New Idea *1984

acquires Avco Corporation, renames it Avco Systems Textron *1985 Avco Systems Textron becomes Textron Defense Systems *1995 Textron Systems Corporation is created, consisting of what is now Textron Defense Systems, Textron Marine & Land Systems, and Lycoming

Locations

Coldwater, Ohio Coldwater is a village in Mercer County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,427 at the 2010 census. History Coldwater was founded in 1838 and was originally called Buzzard's Glory for by David Buzzard who operated a general store. Cold ...

(1945–1984) * Stratford Army Engine Plant (1951–1976) *

Connersville, Indiana Connersville is a city in Fayette County, east central Indiana, United States, east by southeast of Indianapolis. The population was 13,481 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of and the largest and only incorporated town in F ...

(1937 - 1960) AVCO purchases assets of Cord's Auburn Automobile Company in 1937. Manufactures kitchen appliances until sale in 1959 to Design and Manufacturing dishwasher division. Manufactures 500,000 Jeep bodies for Overland and Ford during WWII. 1959 AVCO sells to Sam Reginstrief, 1960 AVCO sells to HH Robertson and moves munitions to Richmond, Indiana, former Crosley Plant *

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

(1959–1985)

References

External links