Airspeed AS.10 Oxford - The Silent Workhorse

The two great conflicts of the Twentieth Century created a number of famous aircraft on whose illustrious wings many pilots created their reputations.

- Jan Polc

But in every air force there were less-glamorous aeroplanes that 'did their duty' in the background. One such unassuming workhorse was the Airspeed AS.10 Oxford, whose quiet work helping airmen to earn their spurs ultimately helped achieve victory for the Allies.

In the second half of the 1930s, the Air Ministry created Operational Requirement 42, which eventually resulted in Specification T.23/36 to Airspeed for multi-engine training aircraft. Only founded in 1931, the company had not yet supplied any aircraft to the RAF. However, it had a trump card in its hand – a development of its successful AS.6 Envoy. This eight-seat passenger aircraft had been developed as a heavier, twin-engined version of Airspeed's Courier, a single radial-engined light transport aircraft. As the two shared much of their design, development was relatively straightforward. Confidence in the project had been high enough to display the machine to the public at Farnborough only a week after its first flight. Production had started even before this though, with Airspeed initially working closely with British engine manufacturer Wolseley Motors, who were both a key supplier and early customer for the Envoy.

The Air Ministry's decision to approach Airspeed, a relatively young manufacturer, was undoubtedly influenced by the existence of the Envoy, and by the fact that Airspeed had the widest experience with retractable landing gear of any manufacturer in the UK at the time (the Courier was the first British production aircraft to have such undercarriage).