Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS . 10 Oxford was a twin - engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation , radio - operating , bombing and gunnery during the Second World War . Design and development . With the expansion of the Royal Air Force in the 1930s the service had an operational requirement ( OR . 42 ) for an advanced training aircraft particularly for crews destined for Bomber aircraft . The Avro Anson was considered for the role but it was thought a more difficult to fly aircraft was needed and Air Ministry Specification T . 23 / 36 was issued on 10 July 1936 to Airspeed for a twin - engined training aircraft to meet OR . 42 . The Oxford , built to Specification T . 23 / 36 , was based on Airspeed ' s commercial 8 - seater aircraft , the AS . 6 Envoy , designed by Hessell Tiltman . Seven Envoys had been modified for the South African Air Force as the " Convertible Envoy " , which could be equipped at short notice with a single machine - gun in a hand - operated Armstrong Whitworth dorsal turret , and with bomb racks . Airspeed Ltd . was founded by Nevil Shute Norway ( later to become a well - known novelist under his first two names , Nevil Shute ) and the talented designer Hessell Tiltman . In his autobiography , , Norway gives an account of the founding of the company and of the processes that led to the development and large scale production of the Oxford . ( He received the Fellowship of the Royal Aeronautical Society for his innovative fitting of a retractable undercarriage to the aircraft . ) The Oxford was a low - wing cantilever monoplane with a semi - monocoque constructed fuselage and wooden tail unit . Its main landing gear struts retracted into the engine nacelles . It used conventional landing gear configuration . With a normal crew of three the seating could be changed to suit the training role . The cockpit had dual controls and two seats for a pilot and either a navigator or second pilot . When used for bombardier training , the second set of controls was removed and the space was used for a prone bomb - aimer . When used as a navigation trainer the second seat was pushed back to line up with the chart table . Aft of the pilots ' area was a wireless operator station , facing aft on the starboard side of the fuselage . In the Oxford I a dorsal turret is located amidships . The aircraft could be used for training navigators , bomb - aimers , wireless operators , air gunners and camera operators . The Oxford could also be used as an air ambulance . Orders for were placed for a first batch of 136 aircraft to allow a more economical flow - line production at the Portsmouth factory . The first prototype aircraft " L4534 " first flew at Portsmouth on 19 June 1937 . Two variants were planned , the Mark I would be a general - purpose training aircraft with a dorsal gun turrey , and the Mark II without a turret but fitted with dual - controls . As further large contracts for the aircraft were placed with Airspeed , ( 100 Mk Is and 100 Mk IIs ) it was arranged that De Havilland Aircraft would build them at Hatfield later to meet the demands for Oxfords for training other companies also built the aircraft . A total of 8 , 586 Oxfords were built , with 4 , 411 by Airspeed at its Portsmouth factory , 550 at the Airspeed - run shadow factory at Christchurch , Dorset , 1 , 515 by de Havilland at Hatfield , 1 , 360 by Percival Aircraft at Luton and 750 by Standard Motors at Coventry . Operational history . The Oxford ( nicknamed the ' Ox - box ' ) was used to prepare complete aircrews for RAF ' s Bomber Command and as such could simultaneously train pilots , navigators , bomb aimers , gunners , or radio operators on the same flight . In addition to training duties , Oxfords were used in communications and anti - submarine roles and as ambulances in the Middle East . The Oxford was the preferred trainer for the Empire Air Training Scheme ( EATS ) and British Commonwealth Air Training Plan ( BCATP ) which sent thousands of potential aircrew to Canada for training . 27 Oxfords were on the strength of No 4 Flying Training School RAF Habbaniya , Iraq in early 1941 and some were converted locally for use as light bombers to help in the successful defence of the School against threatening and attacking Iraqi forces . In 1941 , the aviatrix Amy Johnson went missing in an Airspeed Oxford , presumably crashing into the Thames Estuary . After the war , 152 surplus Oxfords were converted into small 6 - seat commercial airliners called the AS . 65 Consul . A few Oxfords were acquired by the Hellenic Air Force and used during the Greek Civil War by No . 355 Squadron RHAF . Although the Oxford was equipped with fixed - pitch wooden , or Fairey - Reed metal propellers , the cockpit contained a propeller pitch lever which had to be moved from " Coarse " to " Fine " for landing . This was done to reinforce this important step for training pilots . Oxfords continued to serve the Royal Air Force as trainers and light transports until the last was withdrawn from service in 1956 . Some were sold for use by overseas air arms , including the Royal Belgian Air Force . Australia . From March 1941 the Royal Australian Air Force received both Oxford I and IIs from RAF contracts for use in Australia , most of the survivors were sold in the early 1950s . Canada . The Royal Canadian Air Force ordered 25 Oxford Is in 1938 and they taken from RAF stocks and shipped to Canada in 1930 and assembled by Canadian Vickers at Montreal and issued to the Central Flying School , they were later joined by large numbers of RAF aircraft to equip the Service Fying Training Schools . New Zealand . New Zealand where on of the first to order the Oxford in 1937 with a contract for five Oxford Is , the fifth aircraft was modified as a survey aircraft . They were delivered to New Zealand by sea and assembled at RNZAF Hobsonville at the end of 1938 . The RNZAF placed further orders for six and then thirty Oxfords . With the start of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan a further 140 aircraft were allocated , which included the last batch of 30 ordered . South Africa . As part of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan the South African Air Force was allocated nearly 700 Oxfords which started to arrive in South Africa from November 1940 . Due to the intense training accidents caused the loss of 256 aircraft , most survivors were withdrawn in 1945 and had been sold by 1947 . United States . The United States Army Air Force units used 137 different Oxfords on loan from the Royal Air Force . Mostly used as general - purpose communications aircraft in the United Kingdom from June 1942 they were also used for Beam Approach Training . By the end of 1944 American types were available and all had been returned to the Royal Air Force by the end of 1944 . A small number had also been loaned to the USAAF in Australia by the Royal Australian Air Force . Two Oxfords were used by the United States Navy in the United Kingdom as communications aircraft .