3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Dan-Air London Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador Volpati-1: Christian Volpati· GFDL 1.2
- 2. Airspeed Ambassador G-AMAD BKS 1965: RuthAS· CC BY 3.0
- 3. Passagiere boarden ein Flugzeug G-AMAH Airspeed Ambassador der British European Airways 1954.: Sophia Transistor· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador is a British twin piston-engined airliner that was designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Ltd. It was one of the first postwar airliners to be produced. The Ambassador was developed in response to a requirement identified by the Brabazon Committee for a twin-engined short-to-medium-haul airliner as a replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3.
How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · retractable tricycle gear · 35.1 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 79 years ago, in 1947.
- Top speed is 3.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 35.1 m: about 8 cars parked nose to tail.
- Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1947-07-10
- introduced
- 1951
- status
- retired
- number built
- 23
- role
- airliner
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- makers
- Airspeed Ltd.
- engines
- 2× Bristol Centaurus 661 / Bristol Centaurus
- crew
- 3
- passengers
- 60
- length
- 24.7 m
- wingspan
- 35.1 m
- height
- 5.6 m
- max take-off weight
- 23.6 t
- top speed
- 502 km/h
- cruise speed
- 483 km/h
- range
- —
- landing gear
- retractable tricycle gear
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q409195, Wikipedia: Airspeed Ambassador (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.