Airspeed Oxford

AS.10 Oxford
Oxford II inflight over Saskatchewan, Canada in 1942
Role	Training aircraft
Manufacturer	Airspeed Ltd
First flight	19 June 1937
Primary user	Royal Air Force
Number built	8,586
Developed from	Airspeed Envoy
Variants	Airspeed Consul

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

Design and development

Oxford of RAF Marham Station Flight operational at Blackbushe in September 1955

The Oxford, built to Specification T.23/36, was based on Airspeed's commercial 8-seater aircraft, the AS.6 Envoy, designed by Hessell Tiltman. Seven Envoys 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 with bomb racks.

Airspeed Ltd. was founded by Nevil Shute Norway (later to become a well-known novelist under his first two names) and the talented designer Hessell Tiltman. In his autobiography, Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer, Nevil Norway gives an account of the founding of the company and of the processes that led to the development and large scale production of the Oxford. (He received the Fellowship of the Royal Aeronautical Society for his innovative fitting of a retractable undercarriage to the aircraft.)

The Oxford was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a semi-monocoque constructed fuselage and wooden tail unit. Its main landing gear struts retracted into the engine nacelles. It used conventional landing gear configuration. With a normal crew of three the seating could be changed to suit the training role. The cockpit had dual controls and two seats for a pilot and either a navigator or second pilot. When used for bombardier training, the second set of controls was removed and the space was used for a prone bomb-aimer. When used as a navigation trainer the second seat was pushed back to line up with the chart table. Aft of the pilots' area was a wireless operator station, facing aft on the starboard side of the fuselage. In the Oxford I a dorsal turret is located amidships. The aircraft could be used for training navigators, bomb-aimers, wireless operators, air gunners and camera operators. The Oxford could also be used as an Air Ambulance.^[1]

A total of 8,586 Oxfords were built, with 4,411 and by Airspeed at its Portsmouth factory, 550 at the Airspeed-run shadow factory at Christchurch, Dorset, 1,515 by de Havilland at Hatfield, 1,360 by Percival Aircraft at Luton and 750 by Standard Motors at Coventry.^[2]

Operational history

The Oxford (nicknamed the 'Ox-box') ^[3] 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. 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. 27 Oxfords were on the strength of No 4 Flying Training School RAF Habbaniya, Iraq in early 1941 and some were converted locally for use as light bombers to help in the successful defence of the School against threatening and attacking Iraqi forces.^[4]

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 into small 6-seat commercial airliners called the AS.65 Consul. A few Oxfords were acquired by the Hellenic Air Force and used during the Greek Civil War by No. 355 Squadron RHAF.

Preserved Belgian Air Force Oxford in the Brussels War Museum

Although the Oxford 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. The Oxford had a tendency to yaw due to the "handing" or rotation of the engines, inducing p-factor. This condition was nearly impossible to correct by trimming the aircraft and landings could be tricky with a tendency for the aircraft to ground loop.^{[5] [N 1]}

Oxfords continued to serve the Royal Air Force as trainers and light transports until the last was withdrawn from service in 1956. Some were sold for use by overseas air arms, including the Royal Belgian Air Force.

Variants

AS.10 Oxford I

To produce the Oxford I for the Royal Air Force, Airspeed increased the wingspan, modified the nose and employed fully cowled Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX radial engines of 350 hp (265 kW). The first Mark 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.

AS.10 Oxford II

The prevalence of powered turrets by the start of the war meant the Oxford's role as a gunnery trainer lapsed. The Oxford 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.

AS.10 Oxford III

Powered by two Cheetah XV engines with 425 hp (315 kW) and Rotol constant-speed propellers, used for navigation and radio training.

AS.10 Oxford IV

Flying test-bed for de Havilland Gipsy Queen IV engines.

Oxford T.II

Only 9 of these were built, eight of them being conversions of Mk Is.

AS.40 Oxford

Civil conversion for radio research, two built.

AS.41 Oxford

Used by Miles Aircraft as a flying test-bed for Alvis Leonides engine, one conversion.

AS.42 Oxford

Oxford I to meet Specification T.39/37 for New Zealand.

AS.43 Oxford

Survey variant of the AS.42

AS.46 Oxford V

The final variant, upgraded to Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engines with 450 hp (335 kW) and Hamilton-Standard variable pitch propellers. Many Mark I and II Oxfords were upgraded to the Mark V standard.

AS.65 Consul

After the end of WWII, over 150 aircraft surplus ex-RAF Oxfords were converted for civilian transport operation; this type was known as the Airspeed Consul.

Operators

Specifications (Mk I)

Oxford AS 10

Data from Modern Trainer^[6]

General characteristics

• Crew: 3
• Length: 34 ft 6 in (10.52 m)
• Wingspan: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)
• Height: 11 ft 1 in (3.38 m)
• Wing area: 348 ft²^[7] (32.3 m²)
• Empty weight: 5,322 lb (2,419 kg)
• Loaded weight: 7,500 lb (3,409 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah X radial engines, 350 hp (261 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 192 mph (167 knots, 309 km/h) at 8,000 ft (2,440 m)
• Endurance: 5.5 hr
• Service ceiling: 23,550 ft (7,180 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,340 ft/min (6.8 m/s)

Armament

• Guns: 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine gun in dorsal turret
• Bombs: 16× 11.5 lb (5 kg) practice bombs carried externally

See also

Related development

• Airspeed Consul
• Airspeed Envoy
  

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Avro Anson
  

Related lists

• List of aircraft of World War II
  

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Airspeed AS.10 Oxford

• Fleet Air Arm Archive