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Aircraft |
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A selection
of pictures of aircraft seen at Croydon throughout it's
history |
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Airspeed Ltd |
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Airspeed Limited 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). The other directors
were A. E. Hewitt, Lord Grimthorpe and Alan Cobham. Amy Johnson
was also one of the initial subscribers for shares. After a short
production run of the AS.1 Tern glider, Airspeed produced the
AS.4 Ferry, a three-engined, ten-passenger biplane, concentrating
on transport monoplanes thereafter. 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 and became Airspeed (1934) Limited in August 1934. During
this period, it developed the AS.8 Viceroy for an intercontinental
air race. The company reverted to the company name of Airspeed
Limited on the 25th of January 1944. Postwar it became involved
in adapting some surplus ex-RAF Oxford aircraft as AS65 Consuls
for the commercial market. Airspeed went on to produce the superbly
streamlined pressurised twin-engined piston airliner called the
AS57 Ambassador. This served successfully for some years with
British European Airways as their "Elizabethan Class".
In 1951 Airspeed Limited completely merged with de Havilland. |
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Airspeed Ferry |
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(below) Airspeed AS4 Ferry G-ABSI. 1936 of WScott's Air
Display. |
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Airspeed Oxford |
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(below) A newly delivered ex RAF 'Airspeed
Oxford'', awaits it's turn, while a 'Percival Pembroke' belonging
to 'Sperry's' is left out in the cold because of hanger space
shortage. |
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Airspeed Envoy |
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(above) 'Airspeed Envoy'. |
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Airspeed
Courier |
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(above) AS5 Courier |
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Airspeed
Consul |
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(above) 'Airspeed Consul' of 'Airspan
Ltd'. |
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(above) c1950. not long after hand over to civil use. A
posed lineup of from left to right (aircraft) 'Percival Proctor',
'DH Rapide', two 'Airspeed Consul's' and another 'DH Rapide'. |
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(below) Scottish Aviation Airspeed Consul. 1946. |
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(above) 'Airspeed Consul'. TJ-AAY |
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(below) Airspeed Consul |
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(above
and below) 'Airspeed
Consul 1951 |
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(below) Airspeed Consul 1951. |
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(above
and below) 'Airspeed
Consul's' in the mid 1950's |
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(above) 'Airspeed Consul'. mid 1950's |
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(above) 'Airspeed Consul'. May 1957. |
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(above) Consul 1950's |
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(below) Consul 1952. |
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(below) Airspeed Consul |
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Airspeed
Ensign |
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