Airspeed Consul
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| AS.65 Consul | |
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| Type | Utility transport |
| Manufacturer | Airspeed Limited |
| Maiden flight | 1946 |
| Number built | 23 |
The Airspeed Consul was a British light twin-engined airliner of the immediate post-war period.
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[edit] 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, 8,751 of which were produced for the Royal Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and South African Air Force under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
War surplus Oxfords were superficially attractive as a small twin-engine airliner, and Airspeed soon offered a conversion kit. From 1946, 162 Oxfords were refurbished after the war for civilian use as Consuls. The type saw service with 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.
However, their wooden construction, heavy wartime use, somewhat tricky handling and small capacity told against them. Many of the 'civil' conversions were bought by military users; 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 many 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.
[edit] Operators
[edit] Civil Operators
[edit] Military Operators
[edit] Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Capacity: 4 passengers
- Length: 35 ft 4 in (10.8 m)
- Wingspan: 53 ft 4 in (16.3 m)
- Height: 10 ft, 1 in (3.1 m)
- Empty weight: 6,000 lb (2,720 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 8,250 lb (3,740 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah X . radial engine, 375 hp () each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 190 mph (300 km/h)
- Range: 900 mi (1,448 km)
- Service ceiling 23,500 ft (7,163 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,070 ft/min (325 m/min)
[edit] See also
Related development Airspeed AS.6 Envoy - Airspeed AS.8 Viceroy (one-off racing special) - Airspeed Oxford
Comparable aircraft Avro Anson
[edit] References
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