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| Auster | |
|---|---|
 Taylorcraft J Auster Mk5 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Liaison aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited |
| Designer | |
| Primary users | Royal Air Force |
| Number built | 1,630 |
| History | |
| Introduction date | 1942 |
| Developed from | Taylor Cub |
| Developed into | Auster AOP.6 Beagle A.61 Terrier |
TheTaylorcraft Auster was a British militaryliaison and observation aircraft produced by theTaylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited company during theSecond World War.
The Auster was a twice-removed development of an AmericanTaylorcraft design of civilian aircraft, theModel A. The Model A had to be redesigned in Britain to meet more stringent Civil Aviation standards and was named theTaylorcraft Plus C.[1][2] After the start of the Second World War, the company developed the model further as anair observation post (AOP)—flown by officers of theRoyal Artillery and used for directingartillery-fire of the artillery.
The Plus C was re-engined with the BlackburnCirrus Minor Iengine and was re-named theTaylorcraft Plus D. Most of the civil Plus Cs and Ds were pressed intoRoyal Air Force service; the Plus Cs were re-engined with the Cirrus Minor I and re-namedPlus C2.
Pre-war tests identified the Taylorcraft Model D as the most suitable aircraft for an AOP. Three moreDs were purchased from Taylorcraft and a trials unit, D Flight, under Major Charles Bazeley RA, formed at Old Sarum on 1 February 1940. The flight with three Austers, one Stinson 105, three artillery and one RAF pilot, moved to France where they trained with artillery and practiced fighter avoidance with Hurricanes of the Air Component of theBritish Expeditionary Force before moving south to train with French artillery. The flight did not participate in the fighting and withdrew without loss to Britain. The War Office then ordered 100Stinson L-1 Vigilants. Formation of theRAF Army Cooperation Command in December 1940 led to the RAF rejecting the very notion of light AOP aircraft.
Intercession by GeneralAlan Brooke led to an accommodation and the first AOP pilot course for artillery officers taking place in October 1940. In 1941, the first AOP squadron, 651, formed. Stinson Vigilants eventually arrived in early 1942 but most had been severely damaged in transit leading to the adoption of the Taylorcraft Auster 1 and an order for 100 aircraft was placed. Some of the Stinsons were resurrected but found to be too big for the AOP squadrons.[3]
TheAuster II was a re-engined aircraft with an American 130 hp (97 kW)Lycoming O-290 engine. Due to the shortage of American engines that version was not built but led to theAuster III (Model E), which was the same as the Auster I but had a 130 hp (97 kW)de Havilland Gipsy Major engine. The next development was theAuster IV (Model G) which had a slightly larger cabin with three seats and used the Lycoming O-290. The main production version was theAuster V (Model J) which was an Auster IV withblind flying instruments, and a conventional trimmer design.[4][5]
Post war, the Auster Mark V was used as the basis for theAuster J/1 Autocrat intended for the civilian market; the British firm having changed their name toAuster and stopped licensing from Taylorcraft. Further military aircraft were supplied, theAuster AOP6, Auster T7 (a trainer) and theAuster AOP9.
The Auster Mark III, IV and V were issued to twelve RAF, one Polish and threeRoyal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) air observation post (AOP) Squadrons. The first to deploy was651 Squadron. The leading elements landed in Algiers on 12 November 1942 with eight aircraft, eleven Royal Artillery (RA) pilots, 39 RA soldiers and 25 airmen (mostly maintenance technicians). The normal strength of an AOP squadron was 12 aircraft, 19 RA officers (all pilots), 83 RA other ranks and 63 RAF including two administrative officers. Aircraft were fitted with an Army No 22 Wireless, an HF set providing two-way voice communications with artillery units and formations on the ground.
On 31 March 1943 Army Cooperation Command was disbanded, most of its assets being used to form theSecond Tactical Air Force. Four squadrons (651,654 Squadron,655 Squadron and657 Squadron) fought in North Africa and Italy, being joined from August 1944 by663 Polish squadron. The other seven RAF squadrons (Nos.652,653,658,659,660,661 and662) operated after D-Day in France, the Low Countries and into Germany.
664 Squadron,665 Squadron, and666 Squadron RCAF were also issued with the Auster Mk. IV and V, formed atRAF Andover in late 1944 and early 1945. The RCAF squadrons were manned by Canadian personnel of theRoyal Canadian Artillery and the RCAF, with brief secondment to the squadrons with pilots from the Royal Artillery; control was maintained in Britain by 70 Group,RAF Fighter Command. The three squadrons deployed from RAF Andover to the Netherlands, to Dunkirk in France, where the last Canadian 'shots' in Europe were fired and later to occupied Germany.656 Squadron RAF was assigned to theFourteenth Army and used Austers in Burma, generally with flights assigned to each corps. In the European theatre a squadron was generally assigned to each corps but under command for technical matters of an RAF group.
The16 AOP Flight and17 AOP Flight of theRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operated Auster Mark III aircraft in support of theAustralian Army in thePacific War from October 1944 until the end of the war.[6]
Postwar Auster AOP aircraft were reorganised into independent flights (probably because the RAF used Wing-Commanders, equivalent to Lieutenant-Colonels, to command squadrons while the army insisted on Majors) including 1903 Flight in Korea that had artillery pilots from several Commonwealth countries. There was also an Auster-equipped 1913 Liaison Flight. Air OP flights also operated in the Malayan Emergency. Several AOP squadrons were reformed within theRoyal Auxiliary Air Force in 1949 and these operated some AOP.5s,AOP.6s and AOP.9s until at least March 1957, when the Auxiliary Air Force was disbanded. All Auster AOP units were transferred to theArmy Air Corps when it was formed in September 1957, with AAC squadrons using numbers starting with 651. The air observation duties, counter-insurgency and casualty evacuation performed by Auster and similarlight aircraft were generally taken over by lighthelicopters from the mid-1960s.
Several Taylorcraft Austers formed, with other civil light aircraft, part of the initial equipment of theSherut Avir, formed in November 1947 as the air component of the Jewish paramilitary organisationHaganah, which later became part of theIsraeli Air Force. They were supplemented early in 1948 by six ex-RAF Austers that had been assembled from hulks of 25 aircraft purchased as scrap. These aircraft formed the core of Israel's air force in the early part of the1947–1949 Palestine war, being used for reconnaissance and supply missions, while also being used to drop home-made bombs on Arab forces.[7]
Australia
United Kingdom
Data fromBritish Warplanes of World War II andBritish Aircraft of World War II.
General characteristics
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