de Havilland Oxford

DH.11 Oxford
Role	Bomber
Manufacturer	Airco
Designer	Geoffrey de Havilland
First flight	1919
Status	Prototype
Number built	One

The Airco DH.11 was a British twin-engined biplane bomber which was designed to replace the earlier Airco DH.10 bomber. It was designed to use the unsuccessful ABC Dragonfly engine and was abandoned after the first prototype was built.

Development

The DH.11 Oxford was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland for the Aircraft Manufacturing Company as a twin-engined day bomber to replace the Airco DH.10. It was designed (as required by the Specification) to use the ABC Dragonfly radial engine which promised to give excellent performance and had been ordered in large numbers to be the powerplant for most of the new types on order for the Royal Air Force. The DH.11 was a twin-engined biplane, with all-wood construction and three-bay wings. It had an aerodynamically clean, deep fuselage occupying the whole wing gap, giving a good field of fire for the gunners in the nose and mid-upper positions.^[1]

The first prototype flew in January 1919,^[2] powered by two 320 hp Dragonfly engines. The prototype encountered handling problems, and was handicapped by the Dragonfly engines, which were extremely unreliable, being prone to overheating and excessive vibration, while not delivering the expected power. Two further prototypes were cancelled in 1919, with no aircraft in the end being purchased to replace the DH.10.^[2]

Variants

• Oxford Mk I - Prototype - powered by two 320 hp (239 kW) ABC Dragonfly engines - one built.
• Oxford Mk II - Proposed version with two Siddeley Puma engines - not built.
• DH.12 - Proposed version with Dragonfly engines and modified gunner's position - not built.

Specifications (Oxford Mk I)

Data from Mason, The British Bomber since 1914 ^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: three
• Length: 45 ft 2¾ in (13.79 m)
• Wingspan: 60 ft 2 in (18.34 m)
• Height: 13 ft 6 in (4.12 m)
• Wing area: 719 ft² (66.8 m²)
• Empty weight: 4,105 lb (1,866 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 7,020 lb (3,191 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × ABC Dragonfly 9 cylinder radial, 320 hp (239 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 107 kn (123 mph, 198 km/h)
• Service ceiling: 14,500 ft (4,400 m)
• Power/mass: hp/lb (kW/kg)
  
• Climb to 10,000 ft: 13 min 45 sec
• Endurance: 3 hours

Armament

• Guns: 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun at Scarff rings at both nose and midships gunners cockpits
• Bombs: 4 × 230 lb (104 kg) bombs carried internally

See also

References

1. Lewis, Peter (1980). The British Bomber since 1914 (Third ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-30265-6.
2. Mason, Francis K (1994). The British Bomber since 1914. Putnam Aeronautical Books. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.

External links

• British Aircraft Directory