Airspeed Ltd.

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This article describes the company Airspeed Ltd. For the technical concept, see Airspeed.

Airspeed Ltd was established to build aeroplanes in 1931 in York, England by A. H. Tiltman and Nevil Shute Norway (the aeronautical engineer and famous writer, who used his forenames as his pen-name). Following production of the AS4 Ferry, a three engined, ten passenger biplane, the company concentrated on transport monoplanes. In March 1933 the firm moved to Portsmouth and in the following year became associated with the Tyneside ship builder Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Limited.

Their most productive period was during World War II. A graceful, twin engined trainer-cum-light transport aircraft known as the AS10 Oxford had a production run exceeding 8,500. Almost 3,800 AS51 and AS58 Horsa gliders were built for the Royal Air Force and its allies. Many of these made one-way journeys into occupied France as part of the D-Day landings, towed from England by Commandos, Dakotas and other piston-engined aircraft.

In 1940, de Havilland bought into Airspeed and, besides adapting some surplus Oxford aircraft as AS65 Consuls for the commercial market, they went on to produce a superbly streamlined twin-engined piston airliner called the AS57 Ambassador.

Airspeed completely merged with de Havilland in 1951.

List of aircraft & first flight

AS4 Ferry - April 5, 1932
AS5 Courier - April 11, 1933
AS6 Envoy - June 26, 1934
AS8 Viceroy - August 1934
AS10 Oxford - June 19, 1937
AS30 Queen Wasp - June 11, 1937
AS39 Fleet Shadower - October 18, 1940
AS45 Cambridge - February 19, 1941
AS51 Horsa - September 12, 1941
AS57 Ambassador - July 10, 1947
AS65 Consul - March 1946

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Airspeed Ltd.

List of aircraft & first flight

Further reading