Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of

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

, 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 who was involved in the establishment of many aviation companies including Curtiss-Wright, China National Aviation Corporation, North American Aviation and TWA. He has ...

, who planned on buying

Curtiss aircraft The 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 de ...

rather than

Sherman Fairchild Sherman Mills Fairchild (April 7, 1896 – March 28, 1971) was an American businessman and investor who founded over 70 companies, including Fairchild Aviation, Fairchild Industries, and Fairchild Camera and Instrument. Fairchild made signifi ...

's. With capital from Fairchild, George Hann,

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

, and W. A. Harriman, the

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

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

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

. 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

farm machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the machine (mechanical), mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are list of agricultural machinery, many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractor ...

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 was a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, now discontinued and owned by AGCO. History In 1960, the White Motor Corporation entered the agriculture market with the purchase of the Oliver Farm Equipment Company. In 19 ...

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

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

in 2000.

Early companies bought or merged by Avco

*Aviation Corporation - formed March 29 1929 *

Southern Air Transport Southern Air Transport (SAT), based in Miami, Florida, was, in its final incarnation, a cargo airline. However, it started life as an irregular air carrier (later known as a supplemental air carrier), a type of carrier defined and tightly contr ...

* Colonial Air Lines - May 1929 *Colonial Western - May 1929 *

Canadian Colonial Airways Colonial Airlines was a United States trunk carrier, a scheduled airline that operated from 1928 to 1956 with bases at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York City and at Montréal/Saint-Hubert Airport in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, before merging in ...

- May 1929 * Embry-Riddle Aviation Corporation - Summer 1929, Embry-Riddle Flying School closed 1930 *Interstate Airlines - Summer 1929 *

Fairchild Aircraft Fairchild was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas. History Early aircraft The company was founded by Sherman Fairchild in 19 ...

Wien Air Alaska Wien Air Alaska (IATA: WC) was a United States airline that was the result of a merger of Northern Consolidated Airlines (NCA) and Wien Alaska Airways (WE). It initially used the name Wien Consolidated Airlines (WC) following the merger in April ...

* Kreider-Reisner *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. * Universal Aviation Corporation - bought by Avco in 1930 *Universal Aviation Schools *

Roosevelt Field, New York Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located in the East Garden City, New York, East Garden City section of Uniondale, New York, Uniondale, on Long Island, New York (state), New York, United States. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerod ...

*Curtiss Field * Southwest Air Fast Express - June 1931

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 The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York, the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as the subsidiary was b ...

sold to AVCO *1943 Consolidated-Vultee, known as

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, 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 ...

, 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 economy cars or subcompact cars, bordering on microcars. At first called the Crosley Corporation and later Crosley Motors Incorporated, the Cincinnati, Ohio, firm was active from 19 ...

Corporation from

Powel Crosley Jr. Powel Crosley Jr. (September 18, 1886 – March 28, 1961) was an American inventor, industrialist, and entrepreneur. He was also a pioneer in radio broadcasting and owner of the Cincinnati Reds major league baseball team. In addition, Crosley's ...

*1947 Convair acquired by the

Atlas Corporation The Atlas Corporation is an American investment firm that was formed in 1928. History Atlas corporation was formed in 1928, in a merger of the United Corporation, an investment firm started in 1923 with $40,000, with Atlas Utilities and Investo ...

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

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

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 purchase ...

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

Carte Blanche A blank cheque or blank check 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 va ...

charge cards from

First National City Bank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for " National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation. Citibank was founded in 1812 as City Bank of New York, and ...

*1967 Avco acquires

Embassy Pictures Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film production and distribution company, which was active from 1942 to 1986. Embassy was responsible ...

*1968 Avco acquires the developer of

Rancho Bernardo, San Diego Rancho Bernardo is a master-planned community in the northern hills of San Diego County, California. Geography The topography of Rancho Bernardo consists of canyons and rolling hills that have large bedrock outcroppings. The major floral biomes ...

*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). It al ...

*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 Whirlpool Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of home appliances headquartered in Benton Charter Township, Michigan, United States. In 2023, the Fortune 500 company had an annual revenue ...

and

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish Multinational corporation, multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool Corporation, Whi ...

*1978 Sold Carte Blanche to

Citibank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

*1982 Sold Embassy Pictures to

Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (July 27, 1922December 5, 2023) was an American screenwriter and producer who produced, wrote, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear created and produced numerous popular 1970s sitcoms, including ''All in the Family'' (1 ...

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 4,774 at the 2020 census. History Coldwater was founded in 1838 and was originally called Buzzard's Glory, named after David Buzzard who operated a general store. ...

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

Connersville, Indiana Connersville is a city in Fayette County, Indiana, United States, east by southeast of Indianapolis. The population was 13,324 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is the county seat of and the only incorporated town in th ...

(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 Richmond () is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana, United States. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,720. It is the principal c ...

, former Crosley Plant. *

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

(1959 - 1985)

References

External links