Airspeed: The Company And Its Aeroplanes By D H Middleton

Airspeed Limited was an act of faith on the part of four men, Nevil Shure Norway (better known as novelist Nevil Shute), Alfred Hessell Tiltman, Sir Alan Cobham and Lord Grimthorpe. Formed in the midst of one of the worst economic depressions in history, the company found a place among the pioneers of flying and was technically years ahead of its time, even though profit eluded it for much of its life. Airspeed produced the Courier small airliner which was notable for introducing the retractable undercarriage, but its name will be forever linked with two aircraft which played vital roles in the Second World War, the Oxford twin-engined trainer and the Horsa military glider. No fewer than 8586 Oxfords were built, and they were used both in this country and throughout the Commonwealth to train pilots who were to fly the four-engined bombers and twin-engined fighters which carried the war to enemy territory