Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Twin-engine commercial airliner

Power Plant:

Two 138 kw (185 hp) Wolseley Aries III seven-cylinder air-cooled radial engines

Specifications:

History:

The prototype Airspeed Envoy G-ACMT (c/n 17), a direct development of the Airspeed Courier, first flew on 26 June 1934 with two Wolseley AR.9 Mk II nine-cylinder radial engines, and models were proposed with Gnome-Rhone Titan Major 7Kd radials, or the Wright R-760-E2 Whirlwind engines. Two basic series of the type were built, and there were variants of these, the Mk I not being fitted with flaps; and the Series II having split flaps and a plywood covered wing. The undercarriage was operated by a hydraulic pump.

Other variants in the series were the AS.6E with 254 kw (340 hp) Walter Castor II engines; AS.6F for photo survey work; AS.6G with 186 kw (250 hp) Wolseley Scorpio I engines; AS.6H with 168 kw (225 hp) Wolseley Aries III engines; AS.6J with Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX engines; AS.6Jm/c for military and civil work with the Cheetah IX engines; and AS.6K with the Scorpio II engine, etc.

At least 23 examples were operated by British airlines; and others were operated in South Africa, Czechoslovakia, and India. Six went to Japan Air Transport, and several to Spain.

Probably the most famous was an AS.6J (Series III) G-AEXX (c/n 66) which was bought for the King’s Flight and had Cheetah IX engines. Only one is known to have survived World War II in the United Kingdom, this being an ex-RAF machine (P5626 – later G-AHAC) which was dismantled in 1950.

Following the collapse of Australian National Airlines (formed by Charles Ulm and Charles Kingsford Smith in 1930) Ulm sought to operate an airline service between Australia and Honolulu in Hawaii, staging through New Zealand, Fiji and Fanning Island, and hoped to obtain a Douglas DC-2. To survey the route the company obtained an Envoy, a Series II VH-UXY (c/n 31) named “Stella Australis”, with 207 kw (277 hp) Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah engines, removed the six passenger seats and installed auxiliary tanks to provide a capacity of 3,065 litres (674 Imp gals), thus increasing the take-off weight to 4,200 kg (9,259 lb). Charles Ulm announced before the flight his new airline, Great Pacific Airways, would “establish a service in the next two years”.

With G M Littlejohn (Chief Flying Instructor of the New South Wales Aero Club) Ulm shipped the aircraft to Vancouver, Canada. On 30 November 1934 they flew, with J S Skilling, a ship’s navigator, to Oakland, California, USA. From there, with extra fuel on board, they flew towards Hawaii, a distance of some 3,701 km (2,300 miles). The aircraft never made it and all on board were lost. The fuel on board was enough for 20½ hours. After four hours of flying the Matson Liner ‘SS Lurline’ picked up signals from the aircraft’s radio; and after 14 hours the liner ‘President Coolidge’ picked up a radio message 644 km (400 miles) from the islands. However, in heavy cloud the aircraft eventually found itself south of Honolulu; course was altered and then a final message was dispatched “petrol only for 15 minutes”. A sea search failed to find any sign of the aircraft or its crew.

A second example, a Series I VH-UXM (c/n 29 – ex G-ACVI), was obtained by Ansett Airways Ltd in 1936. Originally named ‘Miss Wolseley’ with Lord Nuffield it operated with Ansett for some years. Based at Hamilton, VIC, 264 km (164 miles) from Melbourne, VIC it operated a regular service from Hamilton to Melbourne six days a week, a total of five hrs 10 mins flying time each day. However, the engines after some time commenced to use a lot of oil, and the spark plugs oiled up, causing a number of forced landings, three occurring in quick succession on 15, 17 and 21 December 1937. The last of this series occurred in such a position that the aircraft could not maintain height on the remaining engine and, on landing at Essendon, VIC the undercarriage failed and the aircraft settled down, breaking the propellers.

In January 1938 two re-conditioned engines were installed but further problems associated with the engines necessitated returns to Essendon on one engine. On occasions, whilst repairs were effected, the Fokker Universal VH-UTO operated the service. Problems with the engines running rough, and oiling up of the spark plugs, continued during the following years until in 1945 it was fitted with Wright Whirlwind engines. It continued in service but was withdrawn from service in March 1951 and scrapped at Essendon, VIC. By this time the aircraft had over 10,000 hours of flying time. This aircraft was originally built for the 1934 Britain to Australia race but sustained a forced landing on the eve of the race and was unable to compete.