AS.10 Oxford @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Airspeed Envoy prototype G-ACMT, with Wolseley engines, first flown on 26 June 1934 Airspeed Envoy prototype G-ACMT, with Wolseley engines, first flown on 26 June 1934
    Airspeed Envoy prototype G-ACMT, with Wolseley engines, first flown on 26 June 1934
  • Walter Castor-engined Envoy OK-BAL of Czechoslovak airline ČSA (1935) Walter Castor-engined Envoy OK-BAL of Czechoslovak airline ČSA (1935)
    Walter Castor-engined Envoy OK-BAL of Czechoslovak airline ČSA (1935)
  • Envoy Convertible 251 of the South African Air Force, with dorsal turret Envoy Convertible 251 of the South African Air Force, with dorsal turret
    Envoy Convertible 251 of the South African Air Force, with dorsal turret
  • Oxford Is of No. 3 Flying Training School, RAF South Cerney (1938) Oxford Is of No. 3 Flying Training School, RAF South Cerney (1938)
    Oxford Is of No. 3 Flying Training School, RAF South Cerney (1938)
  • No. 3 FTS Oxford Is lined up at South Cerney No. 3 FTS Oxford Is lined up at South Cerney
    No. 3 FTS Oxford Is lined up at South Cerney
  • RNZAF Oxford I NZ1327 used as a target tug RNZAF Oxford I NZ1327 used as a target tug
    RNZAF Oxford I NZ1327 used as a target tug
  • An Airspeed Oxford cockpit, seen from the cabin An Airspeed Oxford cockpit, seen from the cabin
    An Airspeed Oxford cockpit, seen from the cabin
  • The prototype G-AGVY in the dark blue and gold Consul livery, delivered to the Bata Shoe Company The prototype G-AGVY in the dark blue and gold Consul livery, delivered to the Bata Shoe Company
    The prototype G-AGVY in the dark blue and gold Consul livery, delivered to the Bata Shoe Company
  • Esso Petroleum's Consul G-AIDX at Manchester (1954) Esso Petroleum's Consul G-AIDX at Manchester (1954)
    Esso Petroleum's Consul G-AIDX at Manchester (1954)
  • Consul G-AIAH of Morton Air Services Consul G-AIAH of Morton Air Services
    Consul G-AIAH of Morton Air Services
  • G-AJWR, the ambulance version prototype, shown at Radlett in 1947 G-AJWR, the ambulance version prototype, shown at Radlett in 1947
    G-AJWR, the ambulance version prototype, shown at Radlett in 1947
  • Irish Consul EI-ADC at Liverpool Irish Consul EI-ADC at Liverpool
    Irish Consul EI-ADC at Liverpool
  • Iberia Consul EC-ARU Iberia Consul EC-ARU
    Iberia Consul EC-ARU
  • Consul G-AIKR at Liverpool, now restored as Oxford PK286 in New Zealand Consul G-AIKR at Liverpool, now restored as Oxford PK286 in New Zealand
    Consul G-AIKR at Liverpool, now restored as Oxford PK286 in New Zealand
  • A Consul, recognisable by its lengthened nose housing the baggage hold A Consul, recognisable by its lengthened nose housing the baggage hold
    A Consul, recognisable by its lengthened nose housing the baggage hold
  • The Consul cockpit The Consul cockpit
    The Consul cockpit
  • Medical evacuation through the large door of Force Publique Consul C-33 (Belgian Congo) Medical evacuation through the large door of Force Publique Consul C-33 (Belgian Congo)
    Medical evacuation through the large door of Force Publique Consul C-33 (Belgian Congo)
  • Force Publique Consul C-36 under maintenance in the Congo Force Publique Consul C-36 under maintenance in the Congo
    Force Publique Consul C-36 under maintenance in the Congo
  • Maintenance of a Force Publique Consul (Daniel Brackx collection) Maintenance of a Force Publique Consul (Daniel Brackx collection)
    Maintenance of a Force Publique Consul (Daniel Brackx collection)
  • Compared profiles of the Envoy, Consul and Oxford, with fuselage cross-sections Compared profiles of the Envoy, Consul and Oxford, with fuselage cross-sections
    Compared profiles of the Envoy, Consul and Oxford, with fuselage cross-sections

Airspeed Envoy / Oxford / Consul

The Airspeed AS.6 Envoy, AS.10 Oxford and AS.65 Consul form a family of closely related twin-engined, low-wing monoplanes of wooden construction designed and built by the British manufacturer Airspeed Ltd. The Envoy, a light transport and airliner first flown in 1934, was developed into the Oxford, a military trainer of which more than 8,500 were built and which trained a large part of the British Commonwealth's aircrews during the Second World War. After the war, surplus Oxfords were in turn converted into a small civil transport, the Consul.

Airspeed AS.6 Envoy

Design and development

In the early 1930s Airspeed had successfully introduced the Courier, the first British aircraft with a retractable undercarriage. The company's management quickly realised that an enlarged twin-engined derivative would require far less design work than an all-new aircraft. The design effort was led by co-founder A. H. (Hessell) Tiltman, and in November 1933 Airspeed's board authorised the project; by January 1934, six aircraft, including the prototype, were already at various stages of construction.

The prototype, G-ACMT, made its maiden flight on 26 June 1934, flown by C. H. A. Colman. Confidence in the aircraft was so high that only a week later it was sent to its first public appearance, the Society of British Aircraft Constructors (SBAC) display at Hendon. By September 1934 it was undergoing certification trials at Martlesham Heath, while a racing derivative, the AS.8 Viceroy, was being prepared.

The Envoy was an all-wood low-wing cabin monoplane, with fabric-covered control surfaces, a main undercarriage retracting rearwards into the engine nacelles and a fixed tailwheel. It shared much with the Courier, including its wooden construction, the outer wing panels and the main undercarriage. The cabin normally seated eight passengers and one pilot (six if the optional lavatory was fitted), with a separate rear baggage compartment.

Airspeed initially worked closely with Wolseley Motors, whose Aries engine powered the prototype and the first production aircraft; the first two Envoys were sold to Wolseley and its owner Lord Nuffield. When Wolseley abruptly gave up aero-engine manufacture in September 1936, Airspeed offered customers a choice of engines, including the Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah and Lynx, the Wright Whirlwind and the Walter Castor. Production ran in three series: 17 Series I, 13 Series II (with split flaps) and 19 improved Series III. In Japan, Mitsubishi built eleven more under licence as the Hinazuru-type passenger transport.

Operational history

Airspeed promoted the Envoy through air races and long-distance flights. The British company North Eastern Airways was the first to use it as an airliner, and Japan Air Transport and the Czechoslovak airline ČSA, which ordered four Walter Castor-engined aircraft, were among its more successful operators. Other examples went to Ansett in Australia, to Chinese provincial governors and, in May 1937, to the King's Flight, which took delivery of Envoy III G-AEXX in a distinctive red and blue livery.

Seven "Convertible Envoys" were ordered for joint use by the South African Air Force and South African Airways. They could be fitted at short notice with bomb racks and a machine gun in a hand-operated Armstrong Whitworth dorsal turret, a ground crew of four being able to convert one from transport to light bomber or reconnaissance aircraft within four hours. The experience gained with this version proved extremely valuable when Airspeed developed the Oxford.

During the Spanish Civil War, ten Envoys were obtained by the Republicans and two by the Nationalists. The Envoy was also used by the air forces of Japan, Finland, China, Slovakia and Croatia, and the Luftwaffe operated a few captured examples as trainers. The RAF used a handful for communications duties; by the end of the Second World War very few Envoys remained, and the last, G-AHAC, was scrapped in 1950.

Airspeed AS.10 Oxford

Design and development

As the RAF expanded in the 1930s and moved from biplanes to faster, more demanding monoplanes, the Air Ministry needed an advanced trainer for bomber crews. On 10 July 1936 it issued Specification T.23/36 to Airspeed, which based its design on the Envoy and on the lessons learned with the Convertible Envoy. A first batch of 136 aircraft was ordered, allowing economical flow-line production at Portsmouth, and the prototype, L4534, was flown by Percy Colman on 19 June 1937.

The Oxford was a cantilever low-wing monoplane with a plywood-covered semi-monocoque fuselage built around spruce longerons, a stressed-skin plywood wing with hydraulically operated split flaps and a wooden tail unit. It was normally powered by two 350 hp Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah X radials. With a crew of three, it could reproduce the handling of contemporary front-line aircraft and was used for flying, navigation, night and instrument flying, radio, gunnery, bombing and aerial photography training. The Mk I had a dorsal turret, while the Mk II had dual controls but no turret. When used for bomb-aimer training, the second set of controls was removed to make room for a prone bomb aimer.

Demand far exceeded Airspeed's capacity, and the Oxford was also built by de Havilland, Percival and Standard Motors. According to manufacturers' figures, 8,586 were built: 4,411 by Airspeed at Portsmouth, 550 at the Airspeed shadow factory at Christchurch, 1,515 by de Havilland at Hatfield, 1,360 by Percival at Luton and 750 by Standard Motors at Coventry (a total of 8,751 is sometimes quoted, including 165 cancelled aircraft).

Operational history

Nicknamed the "Ox-box", the Oxford could train pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, gunners and radio operators simultaneously on the same flight, and it prepared complete crews for RAF Bomber Command. It was the preferred trainer of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, with more than 2,900 sent to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. In 1941, Oxfords of No. 4 Flying Training School at Habbaniya, Iraq, were converted locally into light bombers to help defend the base. The type was also used for communications, anti-submarine patrol and as an air ambulance. The spin was notoriously difficult to recover from, and many British Oxfords carried a knotted rope from the pilot's seat to the rear door to help crews escape.

On 5 January 1941 the famous aviator Amy Johnson, then flying for the Air Transport Auxiliary, lost her way in bad weather in an Oxford and came down in the Thames Estuary, where she died. The USAAF borrowed 137 Oxfords from the RAF, mainly for communications and beam-approach training.

The Oxford remained in RAF service until 1956. Post-war, surplus aircraft equipped many air forces, including those of Belgium, which received thirty in 1946-1947 to form a flying school and used them until the late 1950s, and the Force Publique in the Belgian Congo, which received six as early as April 1944. Other users included Denmark, Ceylon, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Turkey and Yugoslavia.

Variants

  • AS.10 Oxford I : general-purpose trainer with dorsal turret; entered service with the Central Flying School in November 1937.
  • AS.10 Oxford II : pilot, navigator and radio-operator trainer with dual controls and no turret.
  • AS.10 Oxford III : single example with 420 hp Cheetah XV engines and Rotol constant-speed propellers.
  • AS.10 Oxford IV : test bed for de Havilland Gipsy Queen IV engines.
  • AS.40 / AS.41 Oxford : civil conversions for radio research, and test bed for the Alvis Leonides engine.
  • AS.42 / AS.43 Oxford : version for New Zealand (Specification T.39/37) and survey derivative.
  • AS.46 Oxford V : final version with 450 hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior engines and Hamilton Standard variable-pitch propellers.

Airspeed AS.65 Consul

Design and development

As early as 1940, Airspeed's management were thinking about the fate of the many Oxfords then being mass-produced once demobilisation reduced military demand. After Victory in Europe Day, the company bought back complete and partly assembled Oxfords from the British government and began converting them into an affordable general-purpose transport. The first aircraft, G-AGVY (ex-V3679), received its certificate of airworthiness on 15 March 1946; in the standard dark blue and gold Consul livery, it was delivered to the Bata Shoe Company for flights between its European factories. Airspeed marketed the type to airlines, private owners and businesses, an innovative approach for the time.

From 1946, 162 Oxfords were converted, 50 of them between May and October 1946 alone. The changes included an extra pair of windows on each side, an elongated nose forming a baggage compartment, a partition with double doors between cockpit and cabin and a retrimmed tailplane. The cabin normally held five or six passengers, and the radio operator sat beside the pilot in the former instructor's seat. Variants included an air ambulance with a large upward-opening door (prototype G-AJWR, shown at Radlett in 1947), a convertible freighter, an executive version with lavatory, and an armed version with two machine guns, rockets and a dorsal turret.

Operational history

The Consul served with many small scheduled and charter airlines as a feeder liner in Great Britain, as well as in Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, East Africa and Canada, and it was the first type operated by Malayan Airways, the predecessor of Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. Several large industrial companies used it as an executive aircraft. Its wooden structure, tricky handling and small capacity limited its life, but it is believed to have been Airspeed's only financially successful civil transport.

Many Consuls went to military users. In Israel, they trained transport and Mosquito crews with 141 Squadron, and in June 1949 one carried Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion on a tour of southern Israel. In the Belgian Congo, the Force Publique received six Consuls (C-31 to C-36) in 1948-1949, whose large loading door made them ideal for medical evacuation; withdrawn in 1954-1955, four were then sold to Natal Airlines in South Africa. Other military users included Argentina, Burma, New Zealand and Turkey.

Operators

Envoy

  • Civil : North Eastern Airways, Olley Air Service, Portsmouth, Southsea & Isle of Wight Aviation, Private Charter Ltd (United Kingdom), ČSA (Czechoslovakia), Japan Air Transport (Japan), Ansett Airlines (Australia), South African Airways (South Africa).
  • Military : Royal Air Force and King's Flight, Fleet Air Arm (United Kingdom), South African Air Force, Spanish Republican and Nationalist air forces, Imperial Japanese Navy, Finnish Air Force, Chinese air forces, Slovak and Croatian air forces, Luftwaffe (captured aircraft).

Oxford

  • Wartime : Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Australian Air Force (391), Royal Canadian Air Force (819), Royal New Zealand Air Force (299), South African Air Force (nearly 700), Southern Rhodesia, Free French Air Force, Polish units, USAAF (137 on loan), US Navy, Force Publique (Belgian Congo), Portugal, Turkey.
  • Post-war : Belgium, Burma, Ceylon, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Netherlands (Air Force and Navy), Norway, Yugoslavia.

Consul

  • Civil : some forty British operators (Air Enterprises, Chartair, Morton Air Services, Westminster Airways, Lancashire Aircraft Corporation, Transair, Silver City Airways, Cambrian Airways, BOAC, etc.), Aer Lingus (Ireland), Iberia (Spain), SITA (French Indochina), Loftleidir (Iceland), STAM (Italy), Air Jordan (Jordan), Malayan Airways, East African Airways, Union of Burma Airways, Airways (India), Natal Airlines and Commercial Air Services (South Africa), several Swedish companies.
  • Military : Argentine Air Force (10), Force Publique (6), Union of Burma Air Force (9), Israeli Air Force (11), Royal New Zealand Air Force (6), Turkish Air Force (2), RAF and RCAF (VIP transport).

Accidents and incidents

  • December 1934 : Cheetah-powered Envoy VH-UXY, fitted with a large long-range tank in the cabin and flown by Charles Ulm, disappeared during an attempt to fly from Oakland to Honolulu.
  • October 1936 : Maxwell Findlay and a crew member were killed when their long-range Envoy failed to clear trees on take-off at Abercorn, Northern Rhodesia, during the Schlesinger Race from Portsmouth to Johannesburg.
  • 3 June 1937 : the Envoy prototype, sold to the Spanish Nationalists as a VIP transport, flew into a mountain, killing all on board including General Emilio Mola.
  • 5 January 1941 : Amy Johnson was lost in the Thames Estuary after bailing out of an ATA Oxford in bad weather.
  • 11 February 1949 : the first Consul conversion, G-AGVY, crashed at Jezzine, Lebanon, while chartered by the United Nations; two killed.
  • 15 June 1950 : a rocket exploded under the wing of Consul UB340 of the Union of Burma Air Force during a demonstration flight, killing the Burmese Chief of Air Staff.
  • 12 April 1951 : Consul TF-RPM crashed on Howden Moor, Yorkshire, on a flight from Croydon to Iceland; three killed. The wreckage still lies on the moor.
  • 14 June 1952 : Consul G-AHFT of Morton Air Services ditched in the English Channel after an engine failure; six killed.

Surviving aircraft

No Envoy survives. Several Oxfords are preserved, including:

  • Belgium : O-16 (ex-RAF MP455), Oxford I on display at the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History in Brussels, donated in 1960.
  • New Zealand : PK286, built as an Oxford I in 1945 and converted into Consul G-AIKR in 1946; preserved by the Canada Aviation Museum from 1965, it was restored to Oxford configuration by the Air Force Museum of New Zealand at Wigram (completed in 2016 after 34,000 hours of work) and formally gifted to that museum in 2022. Also R6029, displayed in Consul configuration as VR-SCD at the Croydon Aircraft Company, Mandeville, and NZ1332, under restoration at Dairy Flat.
  • South Africa : ED290, under restoration at the South African Air Force Museum, Port Elizabeth.
  • United Kingdom : V3388 at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, MP425 at the RAF Museum London, and EB518/V3540, being rebuilt at the Spitfire Visitor Centre in Blackpool as part of the "Saving Amy" project.

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Airspeed Envoy Oxford Consul of Wikipedia ( authors )

Airspeed Envoy / Oxford / Consul

  • Role : Light transport / airliner (Envoy, Consul), multi-role aircrew trainer (Oxford).
  • Manufacturer : Airspeed Ltd (also de Havilland, Percival and Standard Motors for the Oxford; Mitsubishi under licence for the Envoy).
  • Designer : A. H. Tiltman.
  • First flight : 26 June 1934 (Envoy), 19 June 1937 (Oxford), 1946 (Consul, certified 15 March 1946).
  • Status : retired.
  • Primary users :
    • Royal Air Force.
    • Royal Canadian Air Force.
    • Royal Australian Air Force.
    • Royal New Zealand Air Force.
    • South African Air Force.
  • Produced : 1934 to 1949.
  • Number built : about 50 Envoy by Airspeed and 11 by Mitsubishi, 8,586 Oxford, 162 Consul (converted from Oxfords).
  • Variants :
    • Airspeed AS.8 Viceroy.
    • Mitsubishi Hinazuru.
  • Developed from :
    • Airspeed AS.5 Courier.

    Specifications (AS.6J Envoy III)

  • Crew: one.
  • Capacity: six to eight passengers.
  • Length: 34 ft 6 in (10.52 m).
  • Wingspan: 52 ft 4 in (15.95 m).
  • Height: 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m).
  • Wing area: 339 sq ft (31.5 m²).
  • Empty weight: 4,057 lb (1,840 kg).
  • Gross weight: 6,300 lb (2,858 kg).
  • Maximum speed: 210 mph (340 km/h, 180 kts) at 7,300 ft (2,230 m).
  • Cruise speed: 192 mph (309 km/h, 167 kts).
  • Range: 650 mi (1,050 km, 560 nmi).
  • Service ceiling: 22,500 ft (6,900 m).
  • Powerplant: Two Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX seven-cylinder radial engines.
  • Power: 345 hp (257 kW) each.

    • Specifications (AS.10 Oxford I)

  • Crew: three.
  • Length: 34 ft 6 in (10.52 m).
  • Wingspan: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m).
  • Height: 11 ft 1 in (3.38 m).
  • Wing area: 348 sq ft (32.3 m²).
  • Empty weight: 5,322 lb (2,414 kg).
  • Gross weight: 7,500 lb (3,402 kg).
  • Fuel capacity: 156 imp gal (710 l).
  • Maximum speed: 192 mph (309 km/h, 167 kts).
  • Endurance: 5.5 hours.
  • Service ceiling: 23,550 ft (7,180 m).
  • Rate of climb: 1,340 ft/min (6.8 m/s).
  • Powerplant: Two Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah X radial engines.
  • Power: 350 hp (260 kW) each.
  • Armament: One 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine gun in dorsal turret; 16 x 11.5 lb (5.2 kg) practice bombs.

    • Specifications (AS.65 Consul)

  • Crew: one.
  • Capacity: six passengers.
  • Length: 35 ft 4 in (10.77 m).
  • Wingspan: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m).
  • Height: 10 ft 1.5 in (3.09 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).
  • Maximum speed: 190 mph (310 km/h, 170 kts) at 4,800 ft (1,463 m).
  • Cruise speed: 163 mph (262 km/h, 142 kts).
  • 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).
  • Powerplant: Two Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah 10 seven-cylinder radial engines.
  • Power: 395 hp (295 kW) each.
  • Propellers: 2-bladed Fairey-Reed fixed-pitch metal propellers.

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Airspeed Envoy Oxford Consul of Wikipedia ( authors )
Airspeed Oxford, Consul, Envoy : Your comments on this subject
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    Would you believe, "Timeline" will show all subjects in chronological order.

    "Random" will reload the entire page with a new random topic.

    The bottom section keeps you abreast of the latest five entries. New topics are added regularly. Don't hesitate to come visit us often : add bookmark.

    Blogs and Comments central section

    Under the photos section comes the comments tabs window :

    You can enter general comments in your own language via one of the two buttons on the left (BLOG EN and BLOG FR). Note that these buttons are accessible regardless of the language to allow some participation in the other language.

    All comments are subject to moderation and will be published only if they comply with the basic rules of decorum, while remaining relevant to the purpose of this site.

    The third tab allows you to enter comments on the shown topic and is bilingual. Personal anecdotes, supplements and other information questions will take place here.

    The "Story" tab shows the explanatory texts. They are most often taken from Wikipedia, a site where we participate regularly.

    The "Data" tab is reserved for list of features and specifications.

    Right menus

    On a smartphone, the lack of space is growing and this menu is moved to the bottom of the page to give priority to videos and pictures.

    The top right icons are links to videos posted by third parties (on their own responsabilities) or by ourselves. The link below these icons will take you to the channel of the one who posted the video. Feel free to suggest other videos if you think they are of some interest (Use the BLOG button or the "Contact" link).