Airspeed Oxford

Military Combat Crew Trainer Aircraft [ 1937 ]

The Airspeed Oxford was a priceless trainer in use by British and Commonwealth forces throughout the Second World War.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 05/20/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

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The Airspeed Oxford was a critical component of the British and Commonwealth forces aerial training program during World War 2. The type appeared in two notable forms as the "Oxford I" and the "Oxford II" with a few subvariants emerging between. The Oxford I series was charged with the training of bomber and gunnery personnel while the Oxford II was used to train navigators and radio personnel on the finer points of their respective crafts. As such, the Oxford series as a whole became a rather indispensable addition to the British Empire - serving to train numerous aircrews for their very specialized functions. First flight of the prototype occurred on June 19th, 1937.

Design-wise, the Airspeed Oxford was of a conventional design and overall arrangement. The engines were mounted along the leading edges of their respective low monoplane wings which straddled the cockpit. The cockpit was, itself, heavily glazed to provide for maximum views at nearly all angles in flight (including a perfect view of each engine). A single vertical tail fin was affixed to the tail unit as were a pair of horizontal tailplanes. There were enough crew accommodations for up to three personnel. The undercarriage was of a tail-dragger configuration, made up of a pair of single-wheeled main landing gear legs and a small tail wheel at the rear. Only the main legs were retractable and these only partially so under each engine nacelle.

Armament was optional and utilized in the training of bomber and gunnery personnel. A 7.7mm Vickers K machine gun could be mounted to a dorsal position while 16 x 11.5lb practice bombs could be stowed in the internal bomb bay.

The Airspeed Oxford went on to see extensive service in the inventories of many countries before her tenure had ended. Some 8,586 examples were produced in all.©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1937

Origin

United Kingdom

Status

RETIRED
Not in Service.

Crew

3

Production

8,586
UNITS

Airspeed Ltd - UK

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Australia; Belgium; Burma (Myanmar); Ceylon (Sri Lanka); Denmark; Canada; Czechoslovakia; Egypt; France (Free French Forces; Greece; India; Iran; Israel; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Poland; Portugal; South Africa; Turkey; United Kingdom; United States; Yugoslavia

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Training (General)
Developed ability to be used as a dedicated trainer for student pilots (typically under the supervision of an instructor).

Length

34.5 ft
(10.51 m)

Width/Span

53.3 ft
(16.25 m)

Height

11.1 ft
(3.38 m)

Empty Wgt

5,335 lb
(2,420 kg)

MTOW

7,518 lb
(3,410 kg)

Wgt Diff

+2,183 lb
(+990 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the Airspeed Oxford Mk I production variant)

Installed: 2 x Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah X air-cooled radial piston engines developing 355 horsepower each.

Max Speed

192 mph
(309 kph | 167 kts)

Ceiling

23,556 ft
(7,180 m | 4 mi)

Range

932 mi
(1,500 km | 2,778 nm)

Rate-of-Climb

1,340 ft/min
(408 m/min)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the Airspeed Oxford Mk I production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

OPTIONAL:
1 x 7.7mm Vickers K Machine Gun in dorsal gun position.
16 x 11.5lb practice bombs (drop bombs) in internal bomb bay.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft medium machine gun

Graphical image of an aircraft conventional drop bomb munition

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

AS.10 Oxford Mk I - Bombing/Gunnery Trainer; increased wingspan from commercial model; fitted with Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX radial engines of 355 horsepower in engine cowls; redesigned nose assembly.

AS.10 Oxford Mk II - Radio/Navigation Trainer; sans powered turret.

AS.10 Oxford Mk III - Radio/Navigation Trainer; fitted with 2 x Cheetah XV engines of 425 horsepower.

AS.10 Oxford Mk IV - Developmental Test Bed Aircraft for de Havilland Gipsy Queen IV powerplants.

Oxford T.II - Improved Oxford; mostly converted from Oxford Mk.I models (8); 9 examples.

AS.40 Oxford - Civilian conversion model; radio testbed; 2 examples converted.

AS.41 Oxford - Developmental Test Bed Aircraft for Alvis Leonides powerplant; single example.

AS.42 Oxford - New Zealand Air Force Variant

AS.43 Oxford - Survey Platform based on AS.42 model.

AS.46 Oxford Mk V - Fitted with Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engines of 450 horsepower; final production variant; standardized model for Oxford Mk I and Oxford Mk II types.

AS.65 Consul - Civilian Post-War Transport Models.

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