Saturday, 30 May 2020

Airspeed AS.10 Oxford, part two, Asian users

The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a British twin-engined monoplane developed and manufactured by Airspeed Ltd. It was initially conceived as a trainer variant of the Airspeed AS.6 Envoy until it quickly developed into a design of its own and saw wide use as a trainer before, during and after World War 2. It was exported to many Asian countries:

  • Union of Burma: At least 15 Oxfords were supplied to the Union of Burma Air force just after its independence in 1948. Some of them were modified to carry pod-mounted forward-firing machine guns and rocket projectiles to be used in anti-insurgency operations.
  • India: When India became independent in December 1947 nine Oxfords were transferred to the Royal Indian Air Force which later became Indian Air Force. 
  • Israel: Three Oxfords (some sources claim they were four) were in inventory of the, back then, newly founded Central Flying School of the Israeli Defence Force Air Force. They were used, together with the Airspeed Consul, for twin-engined flight training in the early 1950s.
  • Imperial State of Iran: Three Oxfords were delivered to the Imperial State of Iran Air Force back in 1938. 
  • Ceylon: Three former RAF Oxfords were delivered to the Ceylon Air Force in 1953 (some sources claim it was in 1951). 
  • Turkey: The Turkish Air Force was supplied in 1943 with 50 Oxford Mk.I. They were complemented with 20 more in 1946-1947. They served as the Turkish Air Force main twin-engined trainer until the early 1950s when they were replaced by the Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan. The remaining Oxfords were scrapped.









Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Oxford#Other_users
2. http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/aa-mideast/israel/af/types/train1.htm#consul

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