Airspeed Ambassador - The Silver Wing

Greetings everyone! :D
This week, we look at truly an unsung hero of 1950s aviation, the Airspeed Ambassador.
In truth, the Ambassador's reason to exist was scant at best, being developed under the Brabazon Committee as simply a backup in case the flagship Viscount turboprop failed to make it through its turbulent conception.
However, once in service, and against its approaching withdrawal as the Viscounts began to appear in the mid-1950s, the Ambassador fell into a fleeting position as a dedicated all-first class flying machine with a Pullman style interior and lavish service quality, thus creating what was often dubbed the Rolls-Royce of the skies.
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The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.
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Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy! :D
References:
- Key Aero (and their respective references)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references)

[@roum22]

My father was the co-pilot on G-AMAB no fatalities or serious injuries amongst the passengers, but my father broke several ribs and was badly concussed, the Captain received serious head injuries affecting his vision and ending his career. My father recovered and went on to fly the Viscount, Vanguard, and BAC 111, with BEA.

[@tomandtinadixon]

Despite the mishaps, it seems crash survivability in these was quite good. Yes, we're all thinking it: When a B-25 Mitchell and a Connie love each other very much...

[@senabecool7232]

Out of the entire Brabazon Committee, the only that weren't failures or failed prototype was the Viscount and the Dove

[@ThroneOfBhaal]

I always had a soft spot for the Dove, I'd love to see one in MSFS. :D

[@michaelwallbrown3726]

@@ThroneOfBhaal i have been flying one MSFS for about 17 years its a great little airplane to fly

[@nikoscosmos]

The Comet and Britannia served well into the 90s and were no more failures than other British aircraft post Brabazon Committee viscerated by BEA and BOAC.

[@brettbuck7362]

@@nikoscosmos The Comet was a commercial flop and technically incompetent, a dead end. Same with the Britannia, completely the wrong idea at the wrong time, completing missing the boat. The Brabazon Committee was a catastrophe for the British aerospace industry, a classic example of a bunch of deluded "upper class twits" completely misreading the situations. Trying to compete with the excellent DC-3, which were made in the 10's of thousands and available for peanuts after the war was a perfect example of how out-of-touch they were.

[@nikoscosmos]

@brettbuck7362 I never said that the Brabazon committee was a huge success, but merely quoted 2 aircraft it produced that had some success at least for 2nd tier operators in the UK holiday charter market .

[@hazzalandy]

I'd really recommend the book Slide Rule by N.S. Norway, a fascinating insight into how this and other aircraft at the time were developed

[@arbitrary76]

Agree, it's Nevil Shute's autobiography. It covers his time working on the R100 airship under Barnes Wallis. His novel No Highway features a fictional Reindeer transatlantic airliner of this period, being investigated for metal fatigue troubles by scientists at the Royal Aircraft Establishment.

[@Robutube1]

​@@arbitrary76I remember the film being on TV during my 60's childhood.

[@awuma]

The movie "No Highway in the Sky" is available here on KZbin.

[@davidchant5550]

It was this story that made me enter an Aerospace career, some 40 years ago, which involved Fatigue analysis both airframe and engines. However, my frame is more like transitioning from LCF to HCF. Just love this documentary, another brilliant one. How I would love to have flown on the luxury Ambassador in the 1950s. All my travel to Europe for business mainly is classless, 'rack em and pack em' Easy Jet and RyanAir for much more money than the 1950s comparison. Sigh... @@arbitrary76

[@floycewhite6991]

@@arbitrary76 No Highway in the Sky is one of the best works of science fiction, way more gripping and human than the big-budget special-effects wonders of our times.

[@intellectualwino8696]

Trident G-ARPI of the later Stains accident was one of the Tridents which was involved in these accidents. Just a little piece of trivia. It was reconstructed and put back into service... for its later role in history

[@robboles5233]

Flew in one of these to Nice around 1953-55. Although only a child I remember telling my parents how much I preferred it to the DC3 we had previously flown on. That was the only time because later flights to Nice were always Viscounts.

[@drdoolittle5724]

Brilliant, brought back memories of them flying overhead - also. worked as a BEA baggage handler at Heathrow in 69 and was shown evidence of the incident there!

[@alanjones4622]

I read that the slush on the entire length of Munich airport runway which resulted in the Manchester United crash was much deeper than currently permitted for a 747 which has a huge amount of power available compared to the Airspeed Ambassador.

[@axelBr1]

I believe one was owned by the DECCA Navigator Company and used for demonstrating their navigation products. It was flown to the US on one trip, via Iceland, Greenland and the Canadian eastern seaboard. One American air traffic controller at one of the airports it stopped at commenting "What's that twin engined Connie doing?" It looked a pretty aeroplane, although the high wing meant the belly is unusually low to the ground. The Viscount on the other hand looked damn ugly.

[@Gilbonaut]

This aircraft ended its days at West Malling airfield where it was scrapped. I managed to obtain a few of the cockpit instruments, which I still have.

[@starfish370]

I flew on the Ambassador to Jersey with BEA, lovely aeroplane!

[@miguelflugelman3278]

Flew in 1954 with my parents from London to Paris in an Elizabethan Silver Wing flight.I was 12 years old at that time and loved the Scotch smoked salmon, the foie gras and the champagne!

[@ThroneOfBhaal]

'Airspeed' is a great name for a company...

[@apogaeum4313]

Sounds a lot better than "airbus".

[@floycewhite6991]

@@apogaeum4313 Oh how times have changed.

[@Paper246]

You make really good videos!

[@michaelhoffmann2891]

You know you belong to the rich leisure class when you don't mind that they *slow down* your flight, so you can enjoy your lobster and cocktails. 🤯

[@machpodfan]

A great airliner, so beautiful

[@LakhnBer]

Quite a beautiful aircraft. (The triple tail reminds one of the Lockheed Constellation, though, probably the most beautiful prop aircraft ever built)

[@JBofBrisbane]

Might have been worth mentioning that Butler Aur Transport in Australia bought three ex-BEA Ambassadors as a fill in for their fleet after runway degradation at certain airports in New South Wales had seen Butler's two Viscounts banned from flying to those fields. As runways were upgraded, the Ambassadors became redundant and they were returned to the UK for BEA to onsell.

[@theleftyboater]

Another video of something I didn’t know I was interested in. I absolutely love this channel ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@billolgaau]

The Airspeed Ambasidor known as the Elizabeathan was flown in Australia by Butler Airlines in the late 1950's ( I saw them landing several time at YCFS) till Ansett Airlines bought them out & they were replaced by F27 Fokker Friendships.

[@Holland41]

Australian pilots flying the Ambassador were hugely impressed by the aircraft's power and performance. When lightly loaded on New South Wales regional services their climb rate and take-off angles were exceptional, and passengers in the rearward facing seats at the front of the cabin would find themselves pressing against their seatbelts while literally looking down at their forward facing co-passengers.

[@billolgaau]

@@Holland41 I flew with some of those Pilots. One Captain Jack H was being tested by a DCA Examiner at Canberra & he pulled an engine before they had enough speed & they skidded to a halt on it's belly.

[@rdc1000]

Just a little correction (such as at 17.54), "domestic services across Europe" are and were not 'domestic', Domestic flights are only within the same country (so UK to UK). UK to Europe flights are and were always (including our time in the EU) 'international' flights. Great video as always otherwise.

[@SaxonSuccess]

I flew up to RNAS Lossiemouth in an Ambassador, as part of 800 Squadron when HMS Eagle returned to Plymouth in May, 1965. We were the lucky ones, everyone else had to travel by train... I've also flown in numerous Viscounts spread over many years, not the least of which were the Viscounts operated by The Sultan of Oman's Airforce for internal flights in the 1970s. Also later on, shuttling between Aberdeen and Sumburgh and vice versa in the 1980s. Viscounts were truly wonderful aircraft in my opinion.

[@rex8255]

The ironic part is that despite efforts to design something better that the DC-3, that design is STILL flying commercially. and there's even a company that converts them to turbo props.

[@floycewhite6991]

Perfect is the enemy of good enough.

[@bruceboatwright7488]

That is one handsome aircraft.

[@macjim]

The viscount and vanguard were some of my favourite aircraft… the comet 4 being another.

[@glynmatthews6697]

Very Antonov looking in appearance but a very attractive and unusual aircraft , imagine seeing one flying today ?

[@DKS225]

That kind of resembled the aircraft version of The Golden Arrow Luxury Train service. That's just me thinking that mind.

[@40over86]

Beautiful plane once it's in the air and the gear is up.

[@IndaloMan]

Mentioning the Viscount reminded me of the early 80s when I used to fly LBA-LHR-RUH. First leg on a Viscount, second on a 747 #goodolddays

[@AgentCelestia2]

Even though I’m not British (I’m American), this is actually one of my most favorite planes.

[@markadams5462]

Three , 49-seat A.S.57 Ambassadors were brought to Australia in 1957 by Butler Air Transport Company which operated intra-state routes in New South Wales and interstate routes to the Queensland Gold Coast. Since tis type was known as the "Elizabethan" in BEA service, Butler Air Transport retained that name, probably for the same reason that BEA had originally given it to the type. The advantage of the "Elizabethan" over the competing "Viscount" was that the "Elizabethan" could operate from runways of similar lengths to those suitable for the DC-3 which t was to replace. Most of the airports serviced by Butler Air transport had been upgraded just after WWII only to the requirements of the DC-3. In mid-1958 Butler Air Transport was taken over by a rival airline, which took the Elizabethan out of service in order to rationalise the number of types it was operating. The three Elizabethans were returned to England and restored to the British register.

[@cartmanrlsusall]

Very sleek looking airplane i can only imagine how fast she would have been using modern turboprops

[@eugeneoreilly9356]

One of my all-time favourites this aircraft.

[@davedear929]

I well remember this beautiful aircraft at the SBAC show. Such a pity it was outshone by the viscount. It surely was a luxurious m/c. Great video thanks.

[@nickdanger3802]

The Brabazon Committee was a committee set up by the British government in 1942 to investigate the future needs of the British Empire's civilian airliner market following World War II.[1] The study was an attempt at defining, in broad overview, the impact of projected advances in aviation technology and to forecast the global needs of the post war British Empire (in South Asia, Africa, the Near and Far East) and Commonwealth (Australia, Canada, New Zealand) in the area of air transport, for passengers, mail, and cargo.[1]

[@Holland41]

Sadly the Brabazon plans were made under the class system that blighted British inventiveness and decision making then, and ever since. They saw air travel as the reserve of the elite flying first class, and designed aircraft for their own needs and the needs of the British gentry rather than world markets. Thus, despite inventing nearly everything that later airliners would employ across the world, they frittered away their advantages, while the Americans designed planes with an eye to world markets and mass travel.

[@planespeaking]

I live at the end of where RAF Christchurch runway where airspeed was. There are still pieces of the steel mesh runway in the woods behind where I live. I like the look of this plane vs the viscount. My Dad used to fly Dan Air to Guernsey fairly regularly although I am not sure what the turbo prop was. It looked old then ~1980

[@sproutandkidneysoup2296]

It was probably the Hawker Siddley 748.

[@brad4057]

Love your work. Have you considered making a video about Dennis brothers ..the fire engine and bus manufacturers was a fantastic company

[@ianstewartaviation2634]

As a school boy I flew on one of these operated by Autair the forerunner of Courtline from Luton to Rotterdam and back.

[@scofab]

Interesting as always and thank you again.

[@167curly]

When I was a schoolboy in the UK in the 1950s my relatives, with whom I lived, bought a house in Northolt from a BEA captain who flew Ambassadors.

[@brianwong7285]

16:46 1 of the 2 Tridents that was damaged in the BKS Air Transport crash at Heathrow was G-ARPI, Papa India. And we all know what eventually happened to Papa India, right?

[@GorgeDawes]

Sadly we do.

[@brianwong7285]

@@GorgeDawes Bealine 548.

[@intellectualwino8696]

Whoops. I just posted the same.

[@johndavey72]

A very elegant aircraft indeed. And a very informative video . Thankyou .

[@johnsowerby7182]

Any thought of doing a video on the Brabazon Committee itself?

[@finlayfraser9952]

Ruairidh is that a SM 82 taking off in the backgound at frame 12:12? Who would have been operating those I wonder?

[@rolanddunk5054]

The Airspeed Ambassador ranks with the “Connie”for grace and elegance.

[@TheSlothNerd64]

Wasn't one of the Tridents that had its tail sliced off, the same one that later crashed as BEA 548? Kind of interesting that the only damage it suffered in the BKS crash was the tail, while the only piece of the plane to survive the 548 crash, was the repaired tail.

[@5Herschell]

That was G-AMAD, I flew in it several times to and from Palma when it was operated by BKS from Southend airport.

[@johannesbols57]

The Ambassador sat awfully low to the ground. This is one of my favourite aircraft.

[@kmrerk]

OMG ! What a beautiful airplane !

[@petercracknell1932]

18:30 The Trident "de-tailed" at Heathrow was G-ARPI, the aircraft which crashed at Staines 18:30 d.

[@edutaimentcartoys]

wow, legendary aircraft

[@hattrick2219]

Brits produced some amazing aircraft. My favorite is the VC-10 series.

[@drstevenrey]

23 built constitutes a dismal failure on any and all levels, no matter how much this bucket is talked to glory.

[@raye402]

Took the Ambassador from Gatwick to RAF St Mawgan Newquay. Jane’s quoted 9000ft ceiling Max speed 252 Always remember the “hops ‘ to that Altitude - 54 min Flight - friend watching us take off remarked the amount of smoke from the engines ! 1969 Happy days ……🛫

[@georgesmith4509]

Three of these aircraft were operated by Butler Air transport in New South Wales they were on loan from BEA they were later returned in good condition

[@stephenthomas3085]

The first class Silver Wing service fare London to Paris was only approximately 380 quid by today's money...? With that level of service..? Blimey that's incredibly cheap. Consider the cost of business and first class air tickets today but the service you would get compared to this...! Hell, a single standard class train fare from London to Cardiff must be near 100 quid these days and that doesn't include TfL fares. Things were much more affordable in those days. My old Mum lived in London in the fifties as a young unmarried woman and was a secretary and many weekends traveled back to South Wales to see the family, and often had a meal on the train. Try affording that now on an average UK salary...!!

[@promerops]

Back in the early 60s my parents and I flew, from Gatwick, to Perpignan or Palma in Dan Air Elizabethans.

[@AviationCommercials]

One of those Tridents that was involved in the accident, G-ARPI, would be repaired and the aircraft would later be operate as British European Airways Flight 548 and on a flight from London Heathrow to Brussels would crash near the town of Staines, Surrey, England, killing all 118 people on board.

[@febweb17]

It's a nice looking aircraft but in it's design it can't seem to make it's mind up. It was the right aircraft at the wrong time. Thanks for showing this clip as I hadn't even heard of the Ambassador.

[@liamthompson3943]

I flew in an Elizabethan from Belfast Nutt's corner to Edinburgh Turnhouse age 5 or 6. I remember the smoke from the engines on start up also was invited to see the flight deck during the flight an early memory not forgotten.

[@BarryRudge]

When ever something is designed by a committee rarely does it succeed

[@rich7787]

Pretty airplane

[@finlayfraser9952]

Ruairidh re my earlier comment of 3 weeks ago, I believe the the aircraft to be an SM79 not a SM82. The Lebanese Airforce used them as transports through the 50s . I recall seeing seeing some of them parked on the apron at Beirut airport back then.

[@ladderman2255]

This guy got a terrible mic about a year ago, then never bought a better one. I love your channel. It is excellent. Please buy a better microphone for £20.

[@Andrewjg_89]

Very nice looking airplane. Were they fast and very expensive to use them because of the way they were designed.

[@vladilenkalatschev4915]

A good looking aircraft

[@johnjephcote7636]

They were being tested during my first holiday. I could never grasp BEA's use of Class names as if they were locomotives - the DC-3 being renamed Pionair and the Elizabethan rather than Ambassador. Viceroy, as an early name for the Viscount was conceived before Indian independence so was plainly inappropriate. I remember a Tyne-powered Amassador as a possible turboprop.

[@frednerk8366]

The aft end reminds me of a Costellation.

[@hattrick2219]

What is the device approximately 10' in height mounted on the top of the fuselage @06:27?

[@JoseCoon-Adams-wx5do]

It’s a British version of the Lockheed super constellation.

[@scootergeorge7089]

A very good looking aircraft, somewhat like the Lockheed L-1049 Constellation.

[@richardvernon317]

Which first flew 4 1/2 years before.

[@Sacto1654]

I wonder why there wasn't consideration for a turboprop retrofit for the Ambassador? Something like an uprated Rolls-Royce Dart of slightly derated Rolls-Royce Tyne could have made the plane a lot more viable in service.

[@randomscb-40charger78]

Well, I'd imagine that upgrading the engines on a high-wing airliner wouldn't be so simple, not to mention it was seldom produced and would've had such an opportunity to upgrade around the time the Fokker F27 entered service.

[@pete1250a]

It seems Rolls Royce used one - G-AKRD - as a testbed for the Dart and the Tyne. Unsure why there was no push to put it into production. I'd be interested to see how performance differed from the piston version.

[@john07973]

Good stuff 👍

[@davidk2906]

What a beautiful aircraft, and only 23 built . Should of been 123 at least.

[@nikoscosmos]

The Dart engine is not highly complex. The Bristol Centaurus probably has 500% more moving parts!

[@Channelscruf]

Please tell me these didn’t have Lucas Electrical systems.

[@mikeburton7077]

A beautiful but flawed aircraft! Had many flights from Northolt as an ATC cadet In Pembrokes

[@hollywood1340]

"Douglas DC-3 replacement" In 2023 you find the Gooney still flying in limited but serious commercial service. Where are all these replacements?

[@LeeAirVideos]

1 hour 20 minutes to Vienna? That is not possible in the Ambassador.

[@stuew6]

The Airliner had Episode on Mayday. That Aircraft had British soccer team got killed in Gremany because of slush

[@richardvernon317]

There were a couple of Football Songs about it sung by opposing fans of the team, both in very bad taste!!!

[@volkerleiste6191]

the plane, that crashed in München-Riem airport, killing the team of Manchester United

[@Eric-kn4yn]

Flying you needed deep pockets then no hoi poli to be seen

[@pizzagogo6151]

The whole Brabazon committee thing is a mystery to , it seems to been a pretty rare case 😮, in contrast to its seemingly normal practices 😅of the British government putting resources into planing ahead in an advanced industry.....all good stuff☝️.....but then...so much it produced seem to have been poor efforts , squandered resources & outright failures 😞

[@richardvernon317]

The primary fault was the RAE and the Industry. The British were never that good at designing and building aircraft during any period except towards the end of WW1.

[@javiergilvidal1558]

@@richardvernon317 Are you crazy? Liners: Handley Page Heracles, DH´s Flamingo, Comet, Dove & Heron, HS Trident, Vickers Viscount & VC10. Bombers: Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster, Halifax. Light bomber: DH Mosquito. Fighters: .... this is getting tiresome .....

[@Eric-kn4yn]

Vicounts makes up for the failures ??

[@scottcasson501]

You need to do better research as 3 of the aircraft were used in Australia too.

[@bobbysenterprises3220]

Thanks for this. I dont print a lot. But when im printing a box or a bracket or most of the time a car part ive had a real hard time getting it close enough. Im going to try this My geetech is in a very sturdy metal cabinet with a plexi door. Ive thought about putting a cross brace across the cabinet to the upper gamtry. It seems even a bettter built printer would have flex especially if the filiment is shaking around on top of it. A very slight flex 250 mm up could cause a serious bed gap difference at the front and back of the bed.

[@Eric-kn4yn]

Shutes the checkerboard not a best book for me

[@nicks4934]

Designing aircraft by civil servants was a disaster. Only thinking rich people would fly.

[@richardvernon317]

The big problem was everybody in the Government and the management of industry wanted to take things back to the 1930's. Civil Servants didn't design the Aircraft (except the ones in the RAE).,

[@drstevenrey]

The only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3. Quote from Donald Douglas Sr. 1946. Besides, the only thing I remember the Ambassador for is the Munich crash. Where the aircraft had about 90% of the fault. Too big, too heavy combined with abysmally weak engines. Basically obsolete by design and long before the first was delivered.

[@tsclly2377]

Better crash record than most.. Pilot misjudgment, the horse carrier and the football team seem to be the greatest as it seems that these pilots 'where not on top of their game'... and these here preventable if the problem was averted (not flying on a dank runway and failure to stay on heading and abort the take off or stay in ground effect while dumping the flaps) as many knowing pilots would do.

[@javiergilvidal1558]

On eo f the horases was actually the pilot!

[@VanessaDillon-x3s]

What an ugly aircraft!!

[@drstevenrey]

Oh yes, and I almost forgot. It was ugly. Short, fat, obese, low, tail wheel required due to being a design flaw and the roof line on the cockpit really sucks.

[@salvagedb2470]

You would Kill to be back in those Days , Last Oldie I was in was a Comet 2 in the mid 70's..

[@floycewhite6991]

Back then there was a great variety of planforms and powerplants. Now it's all underwing twinjets.

[@CathodeRayNipplez]

😀

[@malcolmgibson6288]

I only ever saw one of these at Ringway. I must have been the last year of Dan-Air using them. I was struck by the graceful lines, and that impression has stayed with me all these years.

[@bingbong7316]

I remember them flying out of Gatwick with Dan-Air and the Heathrow accident, which was shocking at the time - although, there were quite a few air accidents back then.

[@andrewhotston983]

I remember seeing the survivor at Lasham in the 1970s. Shame they didn't fit the Ambassador with turbo-props. The Fokker Friendship showed that the concept was good.

[@grahamwhitworth9454]

I remember in the 1960s seeing Ambassadors belonging to Shell Aviation at Field Aircraft Services, Heathrow, where my father worked as an engineer.

[@williamkennedy5492]

I recall the first time i saw one start, I thought its on fire there was so much smoke from its engines.