Airspeed Ltd began life in York, where AS.4 Ferry passenger biplanes were built 1932. Re-formed in Portsmouth as Airspeed (1934) Ltd, pioneered modern design in Britain with AS.5 Courier and AS.6 Envoy, with flaps and retractable landing gear. From Envoy was derived AS.10 Oxford multirole twin trainer, of which 8,586 were built 1938-45. Other great wartime type was AS.52 and 58 Horsa transport glider — 3,799 delivered. BEA bought 20 AS.57 Ambassador airliners, and about 160 Oxfords were completed as AS.65 Consul light transports. Merged into de Havilland 1951.