AIRSPEED OXFORD MK.I/II "FOREIGN SERVICE"

The Airspeed Oxford was a British low-wing training and light transport aircraft with a mixed design and retractable landing gear from the Second World War. The drive in the Mk. And they provided two engines Armstrong-Siddeley Cheetah X with 350 HP each. The prototype flight took place in 1937. In the course of serial production, which lasted in the years 1938-1945, nearly 8,800 copies of this aircraft were produced. It was armed with 1 7.7 mm Vickers machine gun and a load of up to 113 kg of bombs. Airspeed Oxford was created as a result of an RAF order for a new training plane for bomber crews, which would be designed to train pilots, navigators, deck gunners and bombardiers. In short, the RAF was looking for a universal and modern training machine. The Airspeed plant, while fulfilling this order, relied on the design of the AS6 Envoy, introducing corrections and modernization to it. Finally, Airspeed Oxford was quickly put into mass production, proving to be a very valuable aircraft that fully meets the design assumptions. Several variants of this machine were developed in the course of production. One of the first was the Oxford Mk. II, which had a ridge turret intended for training shooters. The Oxford Mk. III, had more powerful engines and was used to train navigators. There was also the Oxford T. II version, which was a transport variant. The machine, after appropriate changes, also hit the civilian market under the name Airspeed Consul. Airspeed Oxford planes served not only in the RAF, but also in the air forces of Australia, Greece, Canada, New Zealand and the USA.