Airspeed Oxford

Template:Infobox Aircraft The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during World War II.

Development

The Oxford, built to Specification T.23/36, was based on Airspeed's commercial 8-seater craft, the Airspeed AS.6 Envoy. Seven of these had been modified for the South African Air Force as the "Convertible Envoy", which could be equipped at short notice with a single machine-gun in a hand-operated Armstrong Whitworth dorsal turret and bomb racks.

Operational history

The Oxford was used to prepare complete aircrews for RAF's Bomber Command and as such could simultaneously train pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, gunners, or radio operators on the same flight. Demand for the aircraft resulted in 8,751 being built by Airspeed as well as de Havilland, Percival Aircraft Company and Standard Motors. In addition to training duties, Oxfords were used in communications and anti-submarine roles and as ambulances in the Middle East.

The Oxford was the preferred trainer for the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) and British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) which sent thousands of potential aircrew to Canada for training. Some Oxfords were used as Light bombers in Iraq.

In 1941, the aviatrix Amy Johnson went missing in an Airspeed Oxford, presumably crashing into the Thames estuary.

After the war, 152 surplus Oxfords were converted to become small 6-seat commercial airliners called the AS65 Consul. A small number of Oxfords were acquired by the Hellenic Air Force and used during the Greek Civil War by No. 355 Squadron RHAF.

An interesting fact about the Oxford is that, although it was equipped with fixed-pitch Fairey-Reed propellers, the cockpit contained a propeller pitch lever which had to be moved from "Coarse" to "Fine" for landing. This was done to reinforce this important step for training pilots. Curiously for a twin-engine aircraft, the Oxford had a tendency to yaw which was nearly impossible to correct by trimming the aircraft. Landings could be tricky with a tendency to perform a ground loop (Gunston 1995).

Variants

Oxford Mk I - To produce the Oxford Mk I for the Royal Air Force, Airspeed increased the wingspan, modified the nose and employed fully-cowled Armstrong-Siddeley Cheetah IX radial engines with 355 hp (265 kW). The first Mk I flew on 19 June, 1937 and entered service with the Central Flying School in November of that year. By the start of the war, about 300 Mk I Oxfords were in service with the RAF, while a number were also being used by the Royal New Zealand Air Force to train pilots for the RAF.
Oxford Mk II - The prevalence of powered turrets by the start of the war meant the Oxford's role as a gunnery trainer lapsed. The Oxford Mk II, 70 of which were in service by the start of the war, dispensed with the turret and were used primarily as radio and navigation trainers.
Oxford Mk III - Cheetah XV engines with 425 hp (315 kW) and Rotol constant-speed propellers, used for navigation and radio training.
Oxford Mk IV - Flying test-bed for de Havilland Gipsy Queen IV engines.
Oxford Mk V - The final variant, upgraded to Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engines with 450 hp (335 kW) and Hamilton-Standard variable pitch propellers. Many Mk I and II Oxfords were upgraded to the Mk V standard.
Oxford T.II - Only 9 of these were built, 8 of them being conversions of Mk Is.
Consul - After the end of WWII, 150 aircraft already in production were completed as civilian transports; this type was known as the Airspeed Consul.

Operators

Specifications (Mk I)

General characteristics

Crew: 3

Performance Armament

Guns: 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine gun in dorsal turret
Bombs: 250 lb (110 kg) carried externally

References

Bridgman, Leonard (1998). Jane's fighting aircraft of World War II. Crescent. ISBN 0517679647.
Flintham, V. (1990) Air Wars and Aircraft: A Detailed Record of Air Combat, 1945 to the Present. Facts on File. ISBN 0816023565
Gunston, B. (1995). Classic World War II Aircraft Cutaways. Osprey. ISBN 1855325268.