All Airspeed aeroplanes under manufacture or development in 1936 were to use a Wolseley radial aero engine of about 250hp which was under development by Nuffield, the Wolseley Scorpio.
According to Nevil Shute Norway it was a very advanced engine (and the price struck Shute as low; much lower than competing engines on the basis of power-to-weight ratio), so its loss was a major disaster for Airspeed (and Britain).