Airspeed Ltd.

Airspeed Limited

Company type	Private company; later subsidiary
Industry	Aerospace, Aircraft manufacturing
Founded	January 1, 1931 (1931-01-01) in York, England
Founder	Nevil Shute, A. H. Tiltman
Defunct	1951 (1951)
Fate	Integrated into de Havilland
Successor	de Havilland (subsidiary)
Headquarters	York; later Portsmouth; design office in Cobham, Surrey (dispersed) , England, United Kingdom
Area served	United Kingdom, international markets
Key people	Nevil Shute, A. H. Tiltman, A. E. Hewitt, Lord Grimthorpe, Alan Cobham, Amy Johnson (investor)
Products	Aircraft including AS.1 Tern, AS.4 Ferry, AS.5 Courier, AS.6 Envoy, AS.8 Viceroy, AS.10 Oxford, AS.51 Horsa gliders, AS.57 Ambassador airliner
Owner	Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd. (until 1940), then de Havilland (wholly owned subsidiary)
Parent	de Havilland (from 1940)

Airspeed Limited was founded in 1931 in York, England, by aeronautical engineer and novelist Nevil Shute alongside designer A. H. Tiltman. The company's board also featured notable figures such as A. E. Hewitt, Lord Grimthorpe, and Alan Cobham. Among the initial investors was aviator Amy Johnson.

Foundation

The origins of Airspeed Ltd. trace back to the collaboration between Nevil Shute Norway and Hessell Tiltman. In his autobiography, Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer, Norway recounts the company’s inception and the creation of the Airspeed Oxford. His pioneering work on retractable landing gear earned him a Fellowship with the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Early operations

The company's first notable project was the AS.1 Tern, recognized as Britain's inaugural high-performance glider. Developed rapidly to generate publicity and secure funding, it was constructed in workshops set up within a repurposed bus garage in York. Nevil Shute himself piloted its first flight.

In 1932, Airspeed introduced the AS.4 Ferry, a tri-motor, ten-seat biplane commissioned by Sir Alan Cobham.

By March 1933, Airspeed had moved operations to Portsmouth, where the City Council offered advantageous terms for a purpose-built facility at the local airport. That year saw the maiden flight of the Airspeed Courier, followed in 1934 by the twin-engine Airspeed Envoy. Production numbers for both models remained modest. Additionally, 1934 marked the development of the long-distance racing aircraft, the AS.8 Viceroy, intended for the MacRobertson Air Race.

In August 1934, Airspeed (1934) Limited launched a public share offering alongside shipbuilders Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Limited.

By 1934, six Couriers had been sold under hire purchase agreements requiring only small deposits. Despite auditors’ concerns about potential obsolescence, Norway opposed reducing their book value, anticipating rising demand due to mounting international tensions. This decision preserved nearly £20,000 in asset value, bolstering investor confidence given the workforce’s reliance on company stability.

By 1936, most remaining Couriers and Envoys had been sold, with many deployed during the Spanish Civil War; notably, a demonstration Envoy was sold outright to Spanish Nationalists for £6,000. The only Viceroy aircraft came close to being sold to Ethiopia in 1935 for use against Italian forces.

In 1934, Shute secured a licensing deal with Dutch manufacturer Fokker. By 1935, Airspeed had agreements to produce the Douglas DC-2 and several Fokker designs, with Fokker providing consultancy support for seven years. Although Airspeed pursued manufacturing rights for the Fokker D.XVII fighter intended for Greece, escalating pre-war tensions hindered Dutch participation and ultimately prevented finalizing this contract.

Wolseley engine

In 1936, all Airspeed aircraft under production or development were planned to be powered by the Nuffield-developed Wolseley Scorpio, a radial engine delivering approximately . However, after an investment of around two hundred thousand pounds, the project was terminated in September 1936 when Lord Nuffield decided to engage exclusively with the War Office and Admiralty, excluding cooperation with the Air Ministry.

Norway regarded this engine as technologically advanced and cost-effective; thus, its cancellation represented a significant setback for Airspeed.

Second World War

In June 1940, de Havilland successfully acquired Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd.'s stake in Airspeed ordinary shares. Despite this, Airspeed continued to operate independently as a wholly owned subsidiary of de Havilland.

Around 1943, to mitigate the threat of Luftwaffe air raids, a dispersed design office was established at Fairmile Manor in Cobham, Surrey. Details about this location remain scarce, and no physical evidence of the facility exists today.

Airspeed experienced its peak production during the Second World War. The AS.10 Oxford saw a manufacturing total surpassing 8,500 units. Furthermore, approximately 3,800 AS51 and AS58 Horsa military gliders were constructed for the Royal Air Force and allied forces, with many deployed during the D-Day invasion and Operation Market Garden.

Postwar operations

On 25 January 1944, the company reverted to the name Airspeed Limited. Following the war, it converted more than 150 surplus ex-RAF Oxford aircraft into AS65 Consul models for civilian purposes. Subsequently, Airspeed developed the sleek, pressurized twin-engine piston airliner known as the AS57 Ambassador, which was notably operated by British European Airways under the "Elizabethan Class" designation.

In 1951, Airspeed was fully integrated into de Havilland, which discontinued further development of the Ambassador. Nevertheless, this aircraft remained in service with smaller carriers such as Dan-Air until 1971. The original manufacturing facility in York was demolished in November 2015.

Aircraft

• AS.1 Tern – (1931)

A glider designed to attract attention by setting British gliding records (Two constructed; components for a third sold)

• AS.4 Ferry – (5 April 1932)

A three-engine biplane transport aircraft; four units produced

• AS.5 Courier – (1 April 1933)

Single-engine low-wing monoplane passenger aircraft featuring retractable landing gear; sixteen built

• AS.6 Envoy – (26 June 1934)

Two-engine evolution of the Courier; sixty produced

• AS.8 Viceroy – (August 1934)

A long-range variant of the Envoy; only one built

• AS.10 Oxford – (19 June 1937)

A larger two-engine derivative of the Envoy, manufactured extensively during WWII

• AS.16

Planned licensed production of the Fokker F.XXII, none completed

• AS.20

Proposed licensed manufacture of the Fokker F.XXXVI, none constructed

• AS.22

Intended licensed production of the Fokker C.X, none realized

• AS.30 Queen Wasp – (11 June 1937)

Single-engine target drone biplane; seven units built

• AS.39 Fleet Shadower – (18 October 1940)

Four-engine maritime reconnaissance prototype; two ordered with one completed

• AS.45 Cambridge – (19 February 1941)

Single-engine two-seat trainer featuring retractable undercarriage; two produced

• AS.51 Horsa I – (12 September 1941)

Large military troop-carrying glider; total production reached 2,245 including prototypes

• AS.57 Ambassador – (10 July 1947)

Two-engine high-wing piston airliner; twenty-three manufactured

• AS.58 Horsa II –

Horsa model with an openable nose for frontal loading; 1,561 constructed

• AS.65 Consul – (March 1946)

Civilian conversion of wartime Oxford aircraft; 161 converted between 1946 and 1948