Armstrong Whitworth Argosy (1926)

The Armstrong Whitworth Argosy was a three-engine biplane airliner and the first airliner built by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. It was designed in the early to mid 1920s after Imperial Airways said it wanted multi-engined airliners to replace its single-engined types, with a range of 500 miles even into a 30 mph headwind. Three Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar engines of up to 385 hp each drove it, one in the nose and two between the wings, and the structure was steel tube covered largely in fabric. The first aircraft, G-EBLF, flew on 16 March 1926, and the first passenger flight, from London to Paris, took place on 16 July 1926. Imperial Airways used the Argosy to launch the Silver Wing service between those cities, the world's first named air service, and later on the first air mail route from London to Karachi and the route to Cape Town. Three Mark I and four Mark II aircraft were built, and every operator had withdrawn the type by the end of 1936.