Airspeed Oxford PH185 778 Squadron Fleet Air Arm

Airspeed Ltd developed this aircraft, known affectionately as the ‘Ox Box’ in the late 1930s in response to an Air Ministry specification for an advanced training aircraft for potential WWII pilots. Hence the interior had dual controls and space for a crew of three. 778 Squadron was a branch of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm which, during the early 1940s, was a service trials unit that tested all kinds of aircraft that could be used by the Royal Navy. Airspeed Ltd produced just over 8500 of this aircraft and many were still in use well into the 1950s in a variety of roles. Here we see it as used by the Fleet Air Arm in a striking dark blue livery with green cockpit interior. The RAF roundel appears on the upper and lower wings as well as on both sides of the fuselage, alongside its PH185 numbering.