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Airspeed Envoy

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Airspeed AS.6 Envoy was a British light, twin-engined transport aircraft designed and built by Airspeed Ltd. at Portsmouth Aerodrome, Hampshire.

Development

The Envoy was designed by N.S. Norway and A. H. Tiltman as a twin-engined development of the Courier. Co-designer Norway also wrote novels under the pen name Nevil Shute. It used the same wooden construction, outer wing panels and aft-retracting main undercarriage legs. The prototype G-ACMT first flew on June 26, 1934 and in July 1934, the aircraft was presented to the public for the first time at an exhibition by the Society of British Aircraft Constructors (SBAC) at Hendon.

Operational use

File:Airspeeed AS.6 Envoy III at Manchester 1948.jpg
Airspeed AS.6J Envoy III G-AHAC at Manchester in 1948

The first production Envoy I G-ACVH was used as a demonstrator, the second was delivered to Lord Nuffield. Lord Nuffield's aircraft was due to fly in the MacRobertson Air Race from England to Australia in 1934, but the aircraft was damaged and withdrawn from the race. Another aircraft, a specially modified version with long-range tanks (the AS 8 Viceroy) got as far as Athens before leaving the race due to damage.[1]

Orders soon came from the whole Commonwealth. Two aircraft went to the Ansett Airlines in Australia. North Eastern Airways also used the AS.6. In Czechoslovakia, the CSA ordered four AS.6 Envoy JC in 1937.

File:Airspeed .jpg
A.S. 10 Oxford, developed from the AS.6 Envoy

The Airspeed AS.6 Envoy also entered the Air Forces of different countries. The British Royal Air Force used a few AS.6 in a military configuration. The aircraft was used in the Air Forces of Spain, Japan, South Africa, Finland and China and some others. Seven machines were ordered for joint use by the South African Air Force and South African Airways, with three being delivered in military form and four delivered to South African Airways, where they were used on the air route between Johannesburg - Bloemfontein - Port Elizabeth on 12 October 1936.[2] Each of these seven aircraft could be transformed by a work crew of four within four hours from the transportation version into a light bomber or reconnaissance aircraft. In this configuration the crew consisted of four; pilot, navigator, radio operator and gunner.

In October 1936, the British Air Ministry ordered 136 Envoys for the role of crew-training. These further developed aircraft were given a new designation; Airspeed AS 10 Oxford.

Japan

Six Envoy-Is were delivered to Japan in 1935 for services linking Japan with Manchukuo. These were followed by 10 aircraft license built by Mitsubishi at Nagoya. The aircraft were named Hina-Zura (en: Flying Crane). The aircraft were used by the Japan Air Transport and Manchukuo National Airways; it is believed the rest were operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy under the designation LXM.

Wartime

During the Spanish Civil War, ten AS.6 Envoys were obtained by the Spanish Republicans, with the Nationalist side using two, including one that defected from the Republicans, [3] as transport, reconnaissance aircraft or light bombers.[4]

In May 1937, the British King George VI traded his de Havilland Dragon Rapide for an Airspeed AS.6J Envoy III. The AS.6's good stability and flaps, as well as its low landing speed (less than 100 km/h) was decisive. The aircraft received the registration G-AEXX and was painted in distinctive red and blue colours .[5]

During the Second World War, the German Luftwaffe captured some machines and used them as trainer aircraft. The Luftwaffe gave one aircraft to Finland on 22 January 1942, as reparation for the accidental shooting down of a Finnish de Havilland Dragon Rapide. This aircraft was used between 1942 and 1943. Likewise, one aircraft was used between 1941 to 1943 by the Slovaks.[citation needed]

Postwar

One of the RAF Envoy IIIs survived the war and operated as G-AHAC for civil charter operators until it was scrapped at Tollerton airport, Nottingham in 1950.

Variants

Airspeed Ltd, Portsmouth

AS.6 Envoy
Powered by two 200-hp (149-kW) A.R.9 piston engines. 5 built
AS.6A Envoy
Powered by two 240-hp (179-kW) Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IVC radial piston engines. 5 built
AS.6D Envoy
Powered by two 350-hp (261-kW) Wright R-760-E2 Whirlwind 7 radial piston engines.
AS.6E Envoy
Powered by two 340-hp (254-kW) Walter Castor engines. 5 built
AS.6G
Powered by two 250-hp (186-kW) Wolseley Scorpio I engines.
AS.6H Envoy
Powered by two 225-hp (168-kW) Wolseley Aries III engines. 1 built
AS.6J Envoy
Seven-seat light transport aircraft. Powered by two 350-hp (261-kW) Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX radial piston engines. 27 built
AS.6JC Envoy
Powered by two 350-hp (261-kW) Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX radial piston engines. 4 built
AS.6JM Envoy
Powered by two 350-hp (261-kW) Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX radial piston engines. 3 built

A special, one-off racing aircraft was developed from the Envoy: the Airspeed AS.8 Viceroy.

Mitsubishi, Japan

  • Hina-Zuru: 10 licence built

Operators

The Envoy also saw service in China, the Independent State of Croatia, Finland, Slovakia, and Spain.

Template:AUS
Template:CRO
Template:CZS
Template:JPN
Template:Country data Manchukuo
Template:Country data South Africa
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Accidents and incidents

Envoy VH-UXY, piloted by Charles Ulm, disappeared in 1934 during an attempt to fly the Pacific route between Oakland and Honolulu.[1]

Specifications Airspeed AS.6J Envoy (3rd series)

Data from British Aircraft Directory[6]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1-2
  • Capacity: 6-8 passengers
  • Payload: 4,235 lb (1,920 kg)
  • Length: 34 ft 6 in (10.50 m)
  • Wingspan: 54 ft 4 in (15.9 m)
  • Height: 9 ft 6 in (2.8 m)
  • Wing area: 339 ft² (31.50 m²)
  • Empty weight: 6,460 lb (2,930 kg)
  • Loaded weight: 5,300 lb (2,410 kg)
  • Powerplant: 2× Armstrong-Siddeley Cheetah IX 7-cylinder radial engine, 345 hp (255 kW)[7] each

Performance


See also

Related lists

v • d • e
Lists relating to aviation
GeneralTimeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines
MilitaryAir forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft
Notable incidents
and accidents		Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths
RecordsFlight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jackson 1973, p.20.
  2. ↑ Jackson 1973, p.21.
  3. ↑ Jackson 1973, p.392—393.
  4. ↑ Howson 1979, pp.68—78.
  5. ↑ Jackson 1973, p.23.
  6. ↑ Britishaircraft.co.uk
  7. ↑ Originally measured as 349 PS
  • Howson, Gerald. "Contraband Wings of the Spanish Civil War...Britain's Clandestine Contribution". Air Enthusiast (Number 10, July-September 1979): pp. 68—78. 
  • Jackson, A.J (1973). British Civil Aircraft since 1919: Volume 1, 2nd, London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-10006-9. 

Template:Airspeed aircraft Template:Japanese Navy Transport Aircraft

v • d • e
Lists relating to aviation
GeneralTimeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines
MilitaryAir forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft
Notable incidents
and accidents		Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths
RecordsFlight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft

de:Airspeed AS 6 fr:Airspeed AS.6 Envoy it:Airspeed Envoy ja:エアスピード エンボイ fi:Airspeed A.S.6E Envoy

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