Airspeed Consul

The Airspeed Consul is a British light twin-engined airliner of the immediate post-war period. It was a conversion of Airspeed Oxford military trainers surplus after the Second World War.

AS.65 Consul
Airspeed Consul G-AIDX of Esso Petroleum at Manchester in 1954
Role Utility transport
Manufacturer Airspeed Limited
First flight 1946
Number built 162

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 8,586 were produced.[1][2]

From 1946, 162 Oxfords[lower-alpha 1] were refurbished and adapted for civilian use as the Consul at Portsmouth, as war surplus Oxfords were common and inexpensive.[1] They were superficially attractive as a small twin-engine airliner, and Airspeed soon offered a conversion kit.

Airspeed Consul of Aer Lingus at Liverpool in 1949

The Consul saw service with small scheduled and charter airlines as feeder liners in Great Britain, and also Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, 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, Consul VR-SCD was known to exist in Singapore, stored in pieces.

Operators

Civil operators
A Consul which has been cosmetically restored to represent an example previously operated by Malayan Airways and is now preserved in Singapore
  • The aircraft was used by companies, individuals and air charter companies and the following:
 Burma
  • Union of Burma Airways – four aircraft delivered in 1947[4]
 Iceland
  • Flugfedir – one aircraft delivered in January 1951, fatal crash in April 1951[4]
 India
  • Airways (India) – two aircraft delivered in 1947 [4]
 Ireland
 Israel
  • El Al – one delivered in 1953 for crew training.[4]
 Italy
  • Soc Transports Aerei Mediterranei (STAM) – three aircraft delivered 1955–56[4]
 Jordan
  • Arab Airways Association – one aircraft loaned in 1951[4]
  • Air Jordan – seven aircraft from 1950–51[4]
 Malaya
  • Malayan Airways – three aircraft delivered in 1947[4]
 Kenya
 Malta
 South Africa
  • Commercial Air Services – one aircraft delivered in 1949.[4]
  • Natal Airlines – four aircraft delivered in 1955.[4]
  • Silver Flight – one aircraft delivered in 1947.[4]
 Spain
  • Iberia – three aircraft first delivery in 1952.[4]
 Sweden
  • Aero Nord Sweden – one aircraft from Aeropropaganda in 1953.[4]
  • Aeropropaganda – two aircraft delivered 1950–51.[4]
  • Nordisk Air Transport – one aircraft delivered in 1951.[4]
  • Transair Sweden – one aircraft from Nordisk Air Transport in 1951.[4]
 Tanganyika
  • United Air Services – three aircraft delivered 1947–48.[4]
 United Kingdom
Airspeed Consul of Lancashire Aircraft Corporation at Manchester in 1950 on scheduled service to London (Northolt)
 United Nations
  • Five aircraft leased to the United Nations Commission in Israel between 1947–49.[4][5]

Military operators
 Argentina
 Belgian Congo
  • Force publique – six aircraft delivered in 1949.[7]
 Burma
  • Union of Burma Air Force – nine aircraft from 1949–50.[7]
 Israel
 New Zealand
 Turkey

Accidents and incidents
  • 29 April 1947 – G-AIOZ of Milburnair Limited crashed at Botley Hill, Limpsfield on approach to Croydon Airport, two killed.
  • 11 February 1949 – the first Consul conversion G-AGVY of Air Enterprises crashed at Jezzin, Lebanon while on charter to the United Nations, two onboard killed.
  • 15 Jun 1950 – UB340 of the Union of Burma Air Force was on a demonstration flight when a rocket exploded under the wing killing the Burmese Chief of Air Staff.
  • 12 April 1951 – TF-RPM of Flugferdir H/F crashed at Howden Moor, Yorkshire, England on a flight from Croydon to Iceland, three killed.
  • 11 December 1951 – NZ1902 of the Royal New Zealand Air Force crashed on Mount Ruapehu.
  • 14 June 1952 – G-AHFT of Morton Air Services ditched in the English Channel following an engine failure, six killed.

Specifications

Data from British Civil Aircraft since 1919,[9] Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1947[10]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Capacity: 6 passengers
  • Length: 35 ft 4 in (10.77 m)
  • Wingspan: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)
  • Height: 10 ft 1.5 in (3.086 m)
  • Wing area: 348 sq ft (32.3 m2)
  • Empty weight: 6,047 lb (2,743 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 8,250 lb (3,742 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 156 imp gal (187 US gal; 709 l) in 4 wing tanks ; 17 imp gal (20 US gal; 77 l)
  • Powerplant: 2 × Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah 10 7-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 395 hp (295 kW) each at2,425 rpm at 4,300 ft (1,311 m), with 2.25 psi (15.51 kPa) boost
  • Propellers: 2-bladed Fairey-Reed fixed-pitch metal propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 190 mph (310 km/h, 170 kn) at 4,800 ft (1,463 m)
  • Cruise speed: 163 mph (262 km/h, 142 kn) maximum weak mixture
  • Stall speed: 64 mph (103 km/h, 56 kn)
  • Range: 900 mi (1,400 km, 780 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 19,000 ft (5,800 m)
  • Rate of climb: 1,070 ft/min (5.4 m/s) at sea elvel
  • Time to altitude: 10,000 ft (3,048 m) in 10 minutes
  • Wing loading: 23.1 lb/sq ft (113 kg/m2)
  • Power/mass: 0.096 hp/lb (0.158 kW/kg)
  • Fuel consumption: < 30 imp gal/h (36 gal/h; 136 l/h)
  • Take-off distance to 66 ft (20 m): 1,725 ft (526 m) in 5 mph (4 kn; 8 km/h) wind
  • Landing run: 825 ft (251 m)

Avionics

  • Standard Telephones STR11/16
or
  • STR 9 radio
  • Decca Navigator (optional)

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

References
  1. 161 Consuls were sold by Airspeed,[1] with the second prototype, G-AEHF retained by Airspeed.[3]
  1. Stroud Aeroplane Monthly July 1995, p. 67.
  2. Middleton Aeroplane Monthly June 1980, pp. 323–324.
  3. Jackson 1974, p. 396.
  4. Hamlin 2001, pp. 262–285
  5. Jackson 1973, pp.30–33
  6. Ay, Carlos (15 August 2013). "Catálogo Ilustrado de Aeronaves de la Fuerza Aérea Argentina". Gaceta Aeronautica (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  7. Hamlin 2001, pp. 246–259
  8. Hamlin 2001, pp. 225–233
  9. Jackson 1973, p.33.
  10. Bridgman, Leonard, ed. (1947). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1947 (35th ed.). London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. pp. 10c–11c.
  • Hamlin, John F (2001). The Oxford, Consul & Envoy File. Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England: Air-Britain. ISBN 0 85130 2890.
  • Jackson, A.J. (1973). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 1. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-10006-9.
  • Middleton, Don (June 1980). "RAF Piston Trainers No. 9: Airspeed Oxford Part 2". Aeroplane Monthly. Vol. 8 no. 6. pp. 322–327.
  • Stroud, John (July 1995). "Post War Propliners: Airspeed Consul". Aeroplane Monthly. Vol. 23 no. 7. pp. 66–69. ISSN 0143-7240.
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