Museum of Science and Industry

The development of the petrol engine made powered flight possible. The Roe Triplane of 1909, built and flown by Patricroft doctor's son A. V. Roe, was powered by a JAP motorcycle engine. It was the first all-British aeroplane to fly. A year later, A. V. Roe set up in Ancoats the world's first company dedicated solely to the manufacture of aircraft. This company, Avro, ran Britain's first scheduled airline in 1919 and later built Lancaster and Vulcan bombers.

In 1930 Barton, Manchester, became Britain's first permanent municipal airport. Dragon Rapides flew to Barton from Belfast, via Liverpool, and then on to Hull. A problem with extending the runway over the marshy Chat Moss resulted in a move to the current site at Ringway, where Manchester Airport opened in 1938. The same problem had been faced building the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1830!