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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0351.PDF
'.•*. *<-> /*?*• ,., • Flight " phot^fcraph An early batch of Cheetah-engined Oxford trainers. It will be noted that the most distant machine has a dorsal gun turret. of various marks were built, 4,961 of them by Airspeed. Under reverse Lease/Lend Oxfords were used by the US.A.F. in Gt. Britain. Oxford ONE of the world's most famous training aircraft, the Oxford,was a development of the Envoy, to meet Specification T.23/26. Thousands of Oxfords served throughout the war, not only inthe United Kingdom but in Canada, Southern Rhodesia, Austra- lia, New Zealand and the Middle East. The type is still widelyemployed and its roominess has Jed to adaptation for transport, ambulance and communication flying. The Oxford I was powered with two Armstrong SiddeleyCheetah IX or X engines (the former having Fairey-Reed meal airscrews and the latter wooden airscrews), and was charac-terized by a gun turret amidships. Its primary duties were defined as training in bombing and gunnery. Except for the deletion of the turret, and in having equipment to fit it fornavigation and radio training, the Oxford II was similar. Higher performance was conferred on the Oxford III by theinstallation of Cheetah XV engines, driving Rotol constant-speed airscrews. This mark was likewise a navigation and radio trainer -The Oxford IV was an experimental machine for testing D.H. Gipsy Queen IV supercharged engines. Another power plantchange came with the Mk V, which had two Pratt and Whitney Wasp Junior R-985-AN6 radial engines driving HamiltonStandard two-blade variable-pitch airscrews, like the Mks II and III, this was a radio and navigation trainer. The fuselage of the Oxford is a typical Airspeed semi-monocoque structure, with spruce longerons and stiffeners be- neath the plywood covering. The joint between the front andrear sections is made at the rear bulkhead; the forward bulkhead is specially reinforced to withstand the shock in the event of aturnover on landing. A stressed-skin ply-covered structure, with spars having spruce flanges and three-ply webs, the wing is inthree parts, to facilitate transport. Split flaps extend from aileron to aileron. The crew does not normally exceed three, but positions areprovided for pilot, navigator or second pilot, bomb-aimer, wire- less operator, rear gunner and camera operator. When dualcontrol is not required, one set of controls is removed and space for a prone bombing position becomes available. The navigatoroccupies the second pilot's seat, which is pushed back in line with the chart table, and the wireless operator has a seat on therear spar, facing aft. The gun turret is of manually operated Armstrong Whitworthtype, carrying a single Lewis gun, and sixteen lljlb practice bombs can be carried internally. Span, 53ft 4in; length, 34ft 6in; height, lift lin. Weights and perform-ances (with Pratt and Whitney Wasp Junior engines): weight empty, with fixed military equipment, 5,670 lb; all-up weight, 8,000 lb; max. speed,202 m.p.h. at 4,100ft; rate of climb at sea level, 2,000ft/min; climb to 10,000ft, 6 min; service ceiling, 21,000ft. Above is what is believed to be the only photograph extant of an Oxford fitted experimentally with twin fins and rudders and high-set tailplane. The Oxford V navigation and radio trainer, with Pratt and Whitney Wasp Junior engines, driving Hamilton Standard variable-piteh —mrmragsr ' ^flight " photograph
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