The Larkin Aircraft Supply Company (Lasco) was an Australian

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 aircraft manufacturer based at Coode Island in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

.

History

After returning from the First World War Herbert Joseph Larkin

Herbert Joseph Larkin

Captain Herbert Joseph Larkin was an Australian-born British World War I flying ace credited with 11 confirmed victories. Postwar he became a pioneering aviator and aircraft manufacturer in his native Australia. He returned to his nation's service for World War II...

, a fighter pilot with the Royal Flying Corps

Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

, and his brother Reg Larkin formed an agency for Sopwith

Sopwith Aviation Company

The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British aircraft company that designed and manufactured aeroplanes mainly for the British Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Flying Corps and later Royal Air Force in the First World War, most famously the Sopwith Camel...

 aircraft. The company was formed in 1919, as the Larkin-Sopwith Aviation Company of Australia Limited manufacturing aircraft components. The original company went into liquidation and Herbert Larkin then started the Larkin Aircraft Supply Company (known as Lasco) in 1921. In 1925 the company produced the Avro 504K

Avro 504

The Avro 504 was a World War I biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the War totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind that served in World War I, in any military capacity, during...

, the company also produced under-licence the de Havilland Gipsy Moth and one de Havilland DH.50 biplane. It also designed and built a number of aircraft including the Lasco Lascoter

Lasco Lascoter

-External links:* *...

 in 1929, the first all-metal aircraft to be built in Australia. The last design was the three-engined Lascondor. Withdrawal of government subsidy and economic depression caused the company to shut in the 1930s.

Aircraft

• 1925 - Avro 504K
  Avro 504
  The Avro 504 was a World War I biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the War totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind that served in World War I, in any military capacity, during...
  
   - built under licence.
• 1928 - Lasco Lascowl - two ANEC III aircraft re-built and re-engined.
• 1929 - Lasco Lascoter
  Lasco Lascoter
  -External links:* *...
  
   - single-engined six-seat monoplane.
• 1931 - Lasco Lark - glider.
• 1932 - de Havilland Gipsy Moth - 32 built under licence.
• 1932 - de Havilland DH.50 - one built under licence.
• 1933 - Lasco Lascondor - three-engined seven-seat monoplane.

External links

• Wings Publishing: Larkin Aircraft Supply Co. (LASCo) and Australian Aerial Services Ltd.