The Airspeed Consul is a twin-engined light transport aircraft and affordable airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Limited. Introduced during the immediate post-war period, it was a straightforward conversion of surplus Airspeed Oxford military trainers that had been extensively used during the Second World War.
Early on in the conflict, Airspeed's management recognised that the vast numbers of Oxfords then in military service would need a new purpose as an inevitable consequence of demobilisation greatly reducing military demand for the type. Upon the war's end, the company acquired numerous Oxfords from the British government and begun converting the type for the needs of civilian customers. The first aircraft, G-AGVY, was certified for operations in March 1946; a further 50 aircraft would be converted over the following months.
The Consul was developed into various models, each being typically suited for a particular role, such as an air ambulance, freighter, executive transport, and airliner. Airspeed marketed the type particularly heavily towards private owner-pilots and businesses, the latter being an atypical choice for the era. A number were also produced with armaments, having been militarised and exported to multiple overseas air forces. By the end of production, 162 Consuls had been produced.
Development
Background
During the first half of the 1930s, the British aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Limited produced the Envoy, an eight-seat civil transport that also promptly attracted the attention of military operators. Accordingly, during the late 1930s, a militarised derivative of the Envoy, known as the Oxford, was developed and introduced, being primarily used as a trainer aircraft. The Oxford was used in vast numbers by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in addition to several other air forces, forming a key element of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan; a total of 8,586 were produced.
As early as 1940, Airspeed's management were considering the future postwar era and the fate of the large numbers of Oxfords that the company was mass-producing at that time; recognising that military demands would be curtailed, it was thus sensible for surplus aircraft to be converted for use by civilian operators instead. It was recognised that an affordable general purpose twin-engined transport aircraft, suitable for use as an airliner, would likely appeal to such operators. Having planned in advance of the conflict's end, following Victory in Europe Day, Airspeed quickly negotiated to buy back Oxfords from the British government, arranging the purchase of not only complete aircraft but also partially-assembled examples that were in progress at various factories.
The conversion process commenced immediately upon acquisition, with the first aircraft, G-AGVY, being certified for operations in March 1946 and sold to a private operator shortly thereafter. Due to it being a relatively straightforward conversion of an existing aircraft with only minor modifications being made, securing civil airworthiness certification was both quick and easy. The type was assigned the name Consul. In addition to targeting airlines, Airspeed believed there was a viable market for the type amongst private owner-pilots, as there had been for such aircraft during the interwar period. Furthermore, there was an intention focus on marketing the aircraft towards business purposes, a direction which aviation author H. A. Taylor observed to be a particularly innovative approach for the era.
Launch
From 1946, 162 Oxfords were refurbished by Airspeed and adapted for civilian use at the firm's facility in Portsmouth. Of these, 50 alone were produced between May and October 1946. Structural alterations involved in the conversion included cut-outs to add an extra pair of windows on either side of the fuselage, the installation of an elongated nose that functioned as a forward compartment for storing baggage, and the addition of a partition wall between the cockpit and the cabin areas. The tail plane was also adjusted to account for the changed centre of gravity resulting from these other modifications, which also increased the aircraft's fore-and-aft stability.