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AS.57 Ambassador
Ambassador at Bristol Airport in 1965
Type	airliner
Manufacturer	Airspeed Ltd
Maiden flight	1947
Introduced	1951
Primary user	British European Airways
Number built	23

The Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador was a British twin piston engined airliner that first flew on July 10, 1947 and served in very small numbers through the 1950s.

Contents 1 History 2 Variants 3 Accidents and incidents 4 Survivors 5 Civil Operators 6 Military Operators 7 External links 8 Specifications 9 References 10 Related content

It had its origin in 1943 as a requirement identified by the Brabazon Committee for a twin-engined, short to medium-haul Douglas DC-3 replacement. Airspeed Ltd. was asked to prepare an unpressurized design in the 14.5 tonne gross-weight class, using two Bristol Hercules radial engines. By the time the British Ministry of Aircraft Production ordered two prototypes from Airspeed, immediately after the end of the Second World War, the design had grown substantially. The Ambassador would be pressurized, have more powerful Bristol Centaurus radials, and have a maximum gross weight of almost 24 tonnes.

It offered seating for 47 passengers and, having a nose wheel undercarriage, looked far more modern than the DC-3s, Curtiss Commandos, Avro Lancastrians and Vickers Vikings that were common on Europe's shorter airline routes. With three low fins it shared something of the character of the larger trans-continental Lockheed Constellation. British European Airways operated up to 20 Ambassadors between 1952 and 1958, calling them "Elizabethans" in honour of the newly crowned Queen. It also helped the growth of Dan-Air, an important airline in the development of package holidays.

The popularity of this aircraft was soon eclipsed by the arrival of turboprop-powered aircraft such as the Vickers Viscount and, some years later, the Lockheed Electra, which featured more reliable engines and faster speeds. The coming of turboprops and the dawning of the jet age caused the Ambassador to fall out of favour, along with negative publicity.

• AS.57 Ambassador 1 - prototype aircraft with Bristol Centaurus engines, two built.
• AS.57 Ambassador 2 - production aircraft, 21 built.

Two Ambassadors unfortunately made the headlines due to crashes. Firstly, an Ambassador crashed on take-off from Munich on 6 February 1958, in what became known as the Munich air disaster. This crash received tremendous public attention in the UK as it involved team members and staff of Manchester United football club, together with representatives of the national press.

A second headline-making accident was the spectacular fatal crash landing at London Heathrow Airport on 3 July 1968 by a BKS Air Transport Ambassador in which several horses being carried died, a parked Trident jet was damaged beyond repair and another Trident had its tail torn-off before the airliner hit terminal buildings and came to rest. The accident was found to have been caused by the failure of a flap actuating rod in the Ambassador's port (left) wing. Coincidently, the Trident which suffered the damaged tail (G-ARPI) was subsequently repaired and later involved in an (unconnected) fatal accident in June 1972.

One Elizabethan, Christopher Marlowe (G-ALZO c/n 5226), is preserved at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.

•  Australia
  • Butler Air Transport
•  Norway
  • NorrØnafly
•  New Zealand
  • South Seas Airways
•  Switzerland
  • Globe Air
•  United Kingdom
  • Autair International Airways
  • BKS Air Transport
  • British European Airways.
  • Dan Air
  • Decca Navigator Company
  • Rolls-Royce
  • Shell Aviation Limited

• Jordan
  • Royal Jordanian Air Force.
• Morocco
  • Moroccan Royal Flight

• British Aircraft Directory entry
• Image of an Ambassador

General characteristics

• Crew: 3 (47 passengers)
• Length: 81 ft 0 in (24.69 m)
• Wingspan: 115 ft 0 in (35.05 m)
• Height: 18 ft 4 in (5.59 m)
• Wing area: 1,200 ft² (111.48 m²)
• Empty weight: 35,781 lb (16230 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 52,500 lb (23814 kg)
• Powerplant: 2× Bristol Centaurus 661 two-row sleeve-valve radial piston, 2,600 hp (1939 kw) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 272 mph (438 km/h)
• Range: 720 miles (1159 km)

• Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 1. London: Putnam. ISBN 0 370 10006 9. 

Designation sequence

AS.39 - AS.45 - AS.51 - AS.57 - AS.58 - AS.65

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