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Airspeed Consul
The Airspeed Consul was a British light twin-engined airliner of the immediate post-war period.
Contents
Development
The civil AS.6 Airspeed Envoy eight seat airliner of 1934 was militarised in 1937 to create the mass produced AS.10 Airspeed Oxford trainer. The Oxford was used by several air forces for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and 4,411 were produced.
From 1946, 162 Oxfords were refurbished and adapted for civilian use as the Consul, as war surplus Oxfords were common. They were superficially attractive as a small twin-engine airliner, and Airspeed soon offered a conversion kit.
The Consul saw service with small scheduled and charter airlines as feeder liners in Great Britain, and also Belgium, Iceland, Malta, East Africa and Canada, and was the first type operated by Malayan Airways, the predecessor of Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. Some Consuls were operated as executive transports by large industrial companies.
However, their wooden construction, heavy wartime use, somewhat tricky handling and small capacity (six seats) told against them. Many of the 'civil' conversions were bought by military users; and the Consul served as a VIP transport with the air forces of Britain, Canada and New Zealand, all of whom already operated Oxfords. In 1949, the Israeli Air Force purchased a number of civil Consuls and re-converted them to military trainers. They were used by 141 squadron until 1957, a year after the Oxford was retired by the Royal Air Force.
While several Oxfords survive, the Consul has not been so fortunate. G-AIKR, a former children's playground attraction is owned by the Canada Aviation Museum; it is on loan to the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum, where it is being returned to Oxford status. As of 2003, another Consul (photographed in 1987 opposite) was known to exist in Singapore, stored in pieces.
Operators
Civil Operators
- Air Charter
- British Air Transport
- Lancashire Aircraft Corporation
- Silver City Airways
- Westminster Airways
Military Operators
Specifications
Data from British Civil Aircraft since 1919 [1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Capacity: 6 passengers
- Length: 35 ft 4 in (10.77 m)
- Wingspan: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)
- Height: 11 ft 1 in (3.38 m)
- Wing area: 348 ft² (32.3 m²)
- Empty weight: 6,047 lb (2,749 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 8,250 lb (3,750 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah 10 radial engine, 395 hp (182 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 190 mph (165 knots, 306 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 156 mph (136 knots, 251 km/h)
- Range: 900 mi (783 NM, 1,449 km)
- Service ceiling: 19,000 ft (5,800 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,180 ft/min (6.0 m/s)
See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Lists relating to aviation | |
|---|---|
| General | Timeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines |
| Military | Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft |
| Notable incidents and accidents | Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths |
| Records | Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft |
References
- ↑ Jackson 1973, p.33.
- Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 1. London: Putnam. ISBN 0 370 10006 9.
Lists relating to aviation | |
|---|---|
| General | Timeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines |
| Military | Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft |
| Notable incidents and accidents | Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths |
| Records | Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft |
| This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Airspeed Consul". |
