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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1195.PDF
JULY 24TH, 1947 FLIGHT 75 AIRSPEED AMBASSADOR Toxy/ng out from t?ie Christchurch /fight sheds the Ambassador is given scale by the surroundings. spinners were not fated. Inset: for the first flight the large Further Details of the A.S.57 : Unique Control Transmission AS recorded in last week's issue, the maiden flight of f~\ the Airspeed Ambassador was made on July 10th. *• The aircraft, a structural analysis of which was given in the April 10th issue of Flight, performed quite satisfac- torily during its 45 minutes' initial flight, and holds promise of establishing for itself a very useful position during the coming years. Planned from the start with the cardinal objective of economic civil airline operation, the Ambassador is some- what larger than the medium-range types at present in use, yet is smaller than the aircraft intended for really long- range routes. It can be offered in standard pressurized and unpressurized guise and with varying accommodation layouts to cater for 28, 36, 40 or 48 passengers. The high- wing position - offers the advantage of easy loading and a good view for the passengers, and standard refinements include thermal anti-icing, reverse-thrust airscrew braking, fc+eerable nosewheel, integral fuel tanks, and self-contained Interchangeable power plants. In the first optimistic flushes which lighted the introduc- tion of gas turbines and, later, airscrew-turbines, the em- ployment of the conventional piston engine was rudely and somewhat prematurely thrust aside by many. It is now being realized that, even with so (relatively) simple a prime mover as the gas turbine, the necessary development period of circa five years cannot very well be reduced. This is not to say that airscrew-turbines will not be in service until *952; it is. quite possible that some specimens will, but it is now patent that the conventionally powered aircraft will retain a useful place certainly for the next five, and pos- sibly for the next ten years. The Ambassador is well situated from the power-unit aspect. Its high order of aerodynamic efficiency makes it equally suitable for drive by conventional or airscrew- wbine means; in fact, it is true to say that provision for the installation of airscrew-turbines, when ready, was en- visaged in the design layout. Power is provided by two Bristol Centaurus 631 engines which give 2,600 b.h.p. each for take-off. This mark of the Ceiitaurus range has been designed especially for civil operation, but there is every intent to develop it to give higher take-off powers. In this connection the structure of the Ambassador has been designed to allow the maxi- mum all-up weight to be increased to more than 50,000 1b when higher powers are available. Even so, the form de- sign of the aircraft is such that exceptional performance is obtained for a low expenditure of power and, therefore large reserves are available to give a very wide range of D. C. T. Bennet, director and general manager of B.S.A.A., talking over the control layout with the Ambassador's designer, A. £. Hogge.
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