Airspeed AS.4 Ferry

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Contents

Type Description

• AS.4 Ferry
• Ten passenger biplane light airliner, designed to meet a requirement for a pleasure flying airliner from Sir Alan Cobham. The fuselage was a box section monocoque of spruce longerons and plywood skinning. The single pilot cockpit was accessed from the passenger cabin. All pilot controls were located on the port side of the cabin and could be accessed for maintainance via a bulbous external fairing. The equal span, three bay, unstaggered, unswept wings were of of wood with fabric covering and were attached to the top of the fuselage, the lower wing cranked down to shorten the undercarriage length, and was braced from engine mount to lower fuselage. The outer wings had 4-1/2 degrees of dihedral, and Frise type ailerons wre fitted on ll four wings. The monoplane braced tailplane, adjustable in flight, was mounted at the top of fuselage and fitted with a split unbalanced elevator. There was a single swept fin with a horn balanced rudder. The divided undercarriage ws suitable for rough field use, the half axles and radius rods covered a triangular aerofoil-section fairing which increased the overall lift area.Two 120 h.p. de Havilland Gipsy II powerplants were fitted above the lower wings and one inverted 120 h.p. de Havilland Gipsy III powerplant above the center of the upper wing, the fuel tank being housed in a large fairing behind the upper engine.

Production Details

Notes

1. G-ABSI and G-ACFB were acquired by CWA Scott’s Flying Display Ltd in early 1936 and re-engined by Rollason Aircraft Services, Croydon, with Gipsy Major inverted powerplants in all three positions.

Production References

1. Airspeed Aircraft Since 1931, H.A. Taylor (Putnam, 1970)
2. British Commercial Aircraft 1920 - 1940, Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume (GMS Enterprises, 2003)
3. Air Britain Researchers Corner at http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/airspeed_prewar.pdf