AESL Airtourer
The AESL Airtourer is a two-seat sports aircraft of Aero Engine Services Ltd..
History and construction
The Airtourer is a continuous tape as a low-wing lightweight all metal passenger aircraft, which developed in Australia and both there, as was also later produced in New Zealand. It was the winning design in a competition, the Australia's Royal Aero Club organized in the early 1950s. Henry Millicer designed the aircraft and a wooden prototype was built by a group of airplane enthusiasts in a suburb of Melbourne in the late 1950s. This prototype, registered under VH - FMM, flew for the first time in March or April 1959. The all-metal prototype (VH - MVA) was already ripe for series production and first flew on 12 December 1961. The construction aroused interest in Mervyn Richardson the chairman of the Victa Ltd. , a well-known Australian lawn mower producer, so from 1961 to 1966 were produced at the Airtourer Victa. 1966 Victa closed after 168 aircraft produced its production.
The production rights to the Airtourer were purchased the following year by Aero Engine Services Ltd ( AESL ) in New Zealand, where a further 80 copies were produced until 1971.
Variants
From the Airtourer existed seven variants:
- T1 driven by a 100 hp Continental O -200 engine
- T2 powered by a 115 hp Lycoming O -235 engine
- T3 powered by a 130 hp Rolls- Royce O -240 engine
- T4 powered by a 150 hp Lycoming O -320 -E1A with locking propeller
- T5 by a 150 hp Lycoming O -320 -E1A driven with variable pitch
- T6 a small edition of 4 aircraft for the Royal New Zealand Air Force's powered by a 150 hp Lycoming O -320 -E1A and 24 volt electrics
- T8 by a 160 hp Lycoming AEIO -320 driven with fuel injection.
Military use
- New Zealand New Zealand: 4
- Thailand Thailand: 1
- Tonga Tonga: 1