Airspeed AS.5 Courier

Kevin Broomhead, e-mail, 08.01.2017 18:24 Can anyone help me with cockpit and interior layout of the Courier. I've just acquired the plans and can't wait to make a start on her reply

Barry, 27.10.2015 18:26 The Courier was designed by Hessell Tiltman to provide Sir Alan Cobham with a suitable aircraft to make a solo, in flight refuelled, trip to India. In addition to the prototype there were 15 further models produced most of which went to London Scottish and Provincial Airways. Five were purchased by a nefarious organisation called the Union Founder's Trust whose intention was to supply them to the republican cause in the Spanish Civil War. This attempt was foiled, but two men attempted to steal one plane which crashed on take off killing one of them, the other being sentenced to four month's imprisonment. Those left flying at the beginning of the war were impressed into R.A.F. service flying with No3 Ferry Pilots Pool. Span 47' Length 28'6" Loaded 3,900lb Max Speed 153mph Cruise Speed 132mph Range 635 miles Sevice Ceiling 13,500ft reply

Johnnie, e-mail, 13.01.2015 21:42 Actually designed by Hessel Tiltman, not N S Norway (see the latter's fascinating autobiography, 'Slide Rule'). reply

Radley Clarke, e-mail, 19.09.2014 00:01 There no surviving examples of this aircraft, as to colour schemes there are several and I suggest you google Airspeed Colour Schemes. One quite striking example was one painted in Green and Gold and part owned by ex Battle of Britain Pilot John Dundas. If you are contemplating a model you should be building to a plan by David Vaughan, David was a leading scale modeller in Britain some years ago and this plan is fantastic in it's scale accuracy and detail. Still available through Traplet I believe. All the best with the project correspond with me by all means. Radley reply

Klaatu83, e-mail, 17.08.2014 17:15 In addition to becoming a successful fiction writer Nevil Shute Norway, who designed the aircraft shown here, wrote a fascinating non-fiction account of his experiences in the British aircraft industry. Entitled "Slide Rule", it is highly recommended to those interested in this website. In addition to his experiences with Airspeed Ltd., he also discusses his earlier experiences with Vickers, where he worked on the design and construction of the airship R-100. His discussion of the R-100 and it's ill-fated competitor, the infamous R-101, coming as they do from one who was on the "inside" and was really privy to what was going on at the time, are highly enlightening. reply

Klaatu83, e-mail, 17.08.2014 17:04 This was a single-engine predecessor to the highly-successful twin-engine Airspeed Envoy and Oxford. reply

P. G. Cox, e-mail, 16.03.2012 06:01 An Airspeed AS.5 Courier, flown by Squadron Leader D.E. Stodart and Sergeant K.G. Stodart, came sixth in the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race with an elapsed time of 9 days 18 hours. reply

Mike Trew, e-mail, 08.11.2011 16:42 I am building a 17% full size radio control scale model of the Napier Rapier engined Airspeed Courier, G-ACNZ, and I am hoping that someone will know the colour of this aircraft so that I can achieve an authentic scale finish. reply

bill, e-mail, 20.07.2011 21:27 I believe its Alan Cobham not Gobham reply

Klaatu83, e-mail, 05.03.2011 03:55 Designed by Nevil Shute Norway, who later became a novelist, writing such well-known books as "On The Beach", "No Highway in the Sky" and "A Town Called Alice". reply

Jack, e-mail, 12.08.2008 07:41 do any replicas exsist? reply