Well worked through Milairjunkie.
Aircraft name #1 is Argosy and the manufacturer is Armstrong Whitworth. Argosy was the name given to the AW154 1926 tri-motor passenger aircraft built for Imperial Airways who named them for UK cities. Seven were built in total. Used primarily on European routes, they were also used to good effect on portions of the route between Cairo and Cape Town though their ungainly looks hardly would inspire confidence of fast sector times.
In March 1933 "City of Liverpool" was over Dixmude in Belgium en route Brussels to Croydon when it caught fire and crashed with the loss of all on board. A passenger from Manchester named Voss, widely held to have financial problems in the UK and Germany, had exited the aircraft before it crashed but after the fire had started in the vicinity of his seat. The UK inquest was inconclusive as was the official enquiry but most aviation historians believe this was the first case of suicidal sabotage involving an airliner.
Two others of the seven built were destroyed in non fatal accidents. The remaining aircraft were kept in service until 1935. One, "City of Manchester" was sold to United Airways based at Stanley Park, Blackpool. Blackpool was THE major holiday destination for Mancunians in the 1930s so many of its patrons would likely have been from that city. United became part of British Airways in 1936.
The Armstrong Whitworth AW650/660 Argosy was a private venture which came out of an abandoned Air Ministry requirement for a twin engined military freighter. The 100 Srs used the Shackleton wing and sold in penny numbers the majority built being extensively used in the USA on LOGAIR contracts operated by civilian airlines for the military. Parts of the design did not suit BEA who had a need for pure freighters and had taken 3 on lease. They demanded a new fail safe and "wet" wing but also had the nose and tail doors redesigned along with a new undercarriage which became the 220 Srs, BEA were the only customer.
In 1959 the Air Ministry then drew up a new freighter requirement. The AW660 Argosy was designed and built to this requirement. The 100 Srs design was ugraded with a new floor, the nose door was deleted, a radome added, the rear side opening door was replaced by a clamshell and wider rear side doors were added for paratrooping.
The RAF, during the service life of the type, heavily modified nine aircraft to E1 standard for flight /airfield inspection. Two other aircraft were modified to T2 standard as navigation trainers. Several more should have been modified but the plan was hit by budget cuts.
The 100 Srs was also offered as a 71 seat passenger aircraft, BEA being the main target but the larger Vanguard was more to their need. The AW670 Airbus was a bulged fuselage version meant as a 6 vehicle/30 passenger replacement for the Bristol Superfreighter, or as a 126 seat high density, short range airliner.
Considering only 74airframes ever flew, the type had a varied life with 21 operators in 10 countries, one of which, SAFE Airlines of New Zealand, operated the only civil passenger versions as it had the contract to provide the air link to the Chatham Islands. To achieve this it inserted a pressurised chamber on the freight floor equipped with seats, toilets and a galley.