Airspeed Consul
![A view of the Airspeed Consul cockpit](/web/20061029140128im_/http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/images/collections/aircraft/airspeedconsul1.gif)
![The Airspeed Consul](/web/20061029140128im_/http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/images/collections/aircraft/airspeedconsul2.gif)
- Period: Postwar (1945-1959)
- Uses: Airliner
- First Flight: June 1937 (Oxford)
- Display Status: On loan to the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum
The Consul started life as an Airspeed Oxford, an aircraft used extensively as a pilot and aircrew trainer in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during Second World War. Immediately after the war some Oxfords were “civilianized”" by removing wartime equipment and introducing passenger seating.
Airspeed had the reputation of building speedy, light single- and twin-engine transports. The Oxford/Consul was no exception, but was considered by some to be much trickier to fly than the Avro Anson, its stablemate at training schools.
Museum Example
- Registration #: G-AIKR (UK)
- Manufacturer: Airspeed Limited, England
- Manufacture Date: 1945
- Construction #: 4338
- Acquisition Date: 1966
- Provenance: Purchase
The Museum example was converted from an Oxford to a sConsul in 1946 and flew commercially with various owners until purchased by the Canadian War Museum in 1966.
Specifications
- Wing Span:
- 16.3 m (53 ft 4 in)
- Length:
- 10.8 m (35 ft 4 in)
- Height:
- 3.1 m (10 ft, 1 in)
- Weight, Empty:
- 2,720 kg (6,000 lb)
- Weight, Gross:
- 3 740 kg (8,250 lb)
- Cruising Speed:
- 260 km/h (160 mph)
- Max Speed:
- 300 km/h (190 mph)
- Rate of Climb:
- 325 m (1,070 ft) /min
- Service Ceiling:
- 7,163 m (23,500 ft)
- Range:
- 1,448 km (900 mi)
- Crew:
- two
- Power Plant:
- two Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah X, 375-hp engines
Additional Photographs
The Canada Aviation Museum’s Image Bank contains additional photographs of this aircraft. Images are provided for non-commercial study or research purposes only and may not be reproduced or published without the prior consent of the Canada Aviation Museum.
Find out more about our Image bank here.