Thursday 25 June 2020

Airspeed AS.65 Consul, part one, various users

The Airspeed AS.65 Consul was a British light twin-engined airliner of the post World War 2 period. It was a civilian conversion of the Airspeed AS.10 Oxford surplus trainers.
The Consul was used by many nations and, in this case, international organization:

  • Argentina: After the war, the Argentine Air Force bought ten Consuls (some source claims it was just five of them) which were delivered between June and December 1947. They were used as light transports. They served in that role through the 1950s and two of them suffered accidents. They were written off and scrapped some time during the 1950s.
  • New Zealand: After the war, the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) bought six Oxfords which were converted in 1948 to Consuls. They served with the No.42 Squadron RNZAF until the mid-1950s when they were either sold or scrapped.
  • United Nations: The United Nations' commission in Israel operated six Consuls in the Middle-East. They were leased by Mortons, Chartair International Airways and Air Enterprises in 1947 to 1949. They were painted totally in white and bore the letters UN plus a number bearing from 90 to 100. While serving as a transport for the UN personnel, one was lost in a crash in a remote area of Lebanon on 11th February 1949.









Sources:
1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Consul
2. http://www.britishaviation-ptp.com/airspeed_as65.html#prodlistAll
3. https://www.gacetaeronautica.com/gaceta/wp-101/?p=5991 (translated)
4. https://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/GibbinsBryan/10665.htm
5. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/airspeed_oxford_&_consul.pdf
6. https://loudandclearisnotenought.blogspot.com/search/label/Airspeed%20Consul%20%2F%20Oxford (translated)
7. https://blackbusheairport.proboards.com/thread/663/airspeed-oxford-consul-blackbushe
8. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/nz-serials/nzconsul.htm

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