Airspeed Oxford

Oxford History of Airspeed

Airspeed Oxford was an important part of the British and Commonwealth Army air training programmes during World War II. The type appears in two distinct forms, "Oxford I" and "Oxford II," with some sub-variants in between. The Oxford I series was tasked with training bomber and gunner personnel, while the Oxford II was used to train navigators and radio personnel in the intricacies of their respective trades. As a result, the Oxford series as a whole became an indispensable addition to the British Empire - used to train numerous aircrews for their very specialized duties.

The first flight of the prototype took place on June 19, 1937.

In terms of design, the Airspeed Oxford adopts a conventional design and overall layout. The engines were mounted on the leading edges of respective low-lying monoplane wings that spanned the cockpit.

The cockpit itself features heavy glass to allow maximum in-flight visibility from almost all angles, including perfect views from each engine. A vertical tail is attached to the tail, as are a pair of horizontal tails. There are enough crew quarters for up to three people.

The landing gear adopts a trailing structure, consisting of a pair of single-wheel main landing gear legs and a small tail wheel located at the rear. Only the main legs are retractable, and these are only partially located under each engine nacelle.

Weapons are optional and are used to train bombers and artillery personnel. A 7.7mm Vickers-K machine gun can be mounted in the dorsal position, while 16 x 11.5 lb practice bombs can be stowed in the internal bomb bay.

Airspeed Oxford was widely used in inventories in many countries before the end of its tenure. A total of 8,586 copies were made.

Specification

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