Airspeed Consul

infobox Aircraft
name = AS.65 Consul
type = Utility transport
manufacturer = Airspeed Limited

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caption =
designer =
first flight = 1946
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user =
more users =
produced =
number built = 23
unit cost =
variants with their own articles =

The Airspeed Consul was a British light twin-engined airliner of the immediate post-war period.

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 tra, 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 hold 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.

Operators

Civil Operators

;flagicon|Malaysia|1895 Federated Malay States
* Malayan Airways

Military Operators

; BEL
* Belgian Air Force (4); flag|Canada|1921
* Royal Canadian Air Force; ISR
* Israeli Air Force; NZL
* Royal New Zealand Air Force
** No. 42 Squadron RNZAF; UK
* Royal Air Force

pecifications

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

ref=

crew=1
capacity=4 passengers
payload main=
payload alt=
length main= 35 ft 4 in
length alt=10.8 m
span main=53 ft 4 in
span alt=16.3 m
height main=10 ft, 1 in
height alt=3.1 m
area main=
area alt=
airfoil=
empty weight main= 6,000 lb
empty weight alt= 2,720 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main= 8,250 lb
max takeoff weight alt= 3,740 kg
more general=

engine (prop)=Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah X .
type of prop=radial engine
number of props=2
power main= 375 hp
power alt=
power original=

max speed main= 190 mph
max speed alt= 300 km/h
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main=900 mi
range alt=1,448 km
ceiling main= 23,500 ft
ceiling alt= 7,163 m
climb rate main= 1,070 ft/min
climb rate alt= 325 m/min
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=

armament=

avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
*Airspeed AS.6 Envoy
*Airspeed AS.8 Viceroy (one-off racing special)
*Airspeed Oxford

similar aircraft=
*Avro Anson

References