Claude Grahame-White was a british aviator and aircraft manufacturer. He learnt to fly in 1909, and became the first Englishman to hold an aviator's certificate in 1910. In 1910, he raced Louis Paulhan for the Daily Mail prize for the first London to Manchester flight in under 24 hours. Though he lost to Paulhan, he made the first authentic night flight, and went on to win several races in the UK and the US.

Grahame-White returned to England in December and in early 1911 he opened the London Aerodrome at Hendon, which became a centre of British Aviation. His company Grahame-White Aviation designed some of their own airbuses and aircraft, but were mainly involved in the manufacture of aircraft for other companies, including Avro.