1947: The First Flight of the Airspeed Ambassador

July 10, 1947

The maiden flight of the prototype of the Airspeed Ambassador, a twin piston-engined airliner, took place in the skies above England’s southern coast. This plane, which was designed and manufactured by the British aeronautical engineering company Airspeed Ltd., became one of the first airliners to be produced and introduced in England during the post-World War II era.

The Airspeed Ambassador’s original 40-passenger prototype — registered as F-AGUA — was flown by test pilot George B.S. Errington. He was accompanied by flight engineer John Pears. They began this flight, which lasted 45 minutes altogether, at Christchurch Aerodrome in the ceremonial county of Dorset.

An article in the Southampton-based newspaper Daily Echo a few days later reported on the flight and cited Errington’s succinct appraisal of the airborne performance of the plane. “Mr. Errington expressed himself as being generally well satisfied with its behaviour,” according to the article.

During the next couple of decades, the Airspeed Ambassadors were acquired and operated by several airlines. One of the leading customers was British European Airways, which first placed orders for Airspeed Ambassadors in 1948 and used this type of plane over the next decade. (The attached photo of an Airspeed Ambassador was taken in 1965.)

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on the Airspeed Ambassador, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Ambassador and https://air-britain.com/pdfs/airports-airfields/Christchurch_pt2.pdf