The Auster was the British equivalent of the Piper Cub. It shares the same heritage. The company was formed in 1938 & originally named Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited. The first aircraft produced was developed from the Taylorcraft Model B & designated the Taylorcraft Plus C. So many different types of Auster were produced between the end of WWII & the late 50s that I can't recognise them all. They all look much the same & I had to look some of these up to make sure.

The Auster Mk 5. Development of the Taylorcraft Plus D with a Lycoming engine. These served with the Army during WWII as AOP spotter planes. (Fitted with a Cirrus Minor 2 it became the first civil Auster, named the J/1 Autocrat.)


The Auster J/2 Arrow.


The J/1N Alpha. development of the J/1 Autocrat with a Gipsy Major engine.


The J/5R Alpine. With the exception of the standard 36 ft wing span, this was similar to the J/5L Aiglet Trainer.


Auster Aircraft was absorbed along with F.G. Miles Ltd. to become Beagle Aircraft in 1960. The Beagle-Auster A61 Terrier was a factory refurbished military Auster AOP Mk 6. It originally sold for just under £2,000. I wonder how much this one is worth now?


The Beagle-Auster AOP Mk 9.


I had to include this photo I found of Auster chief test pilot Ranald Porteous demonstrating the Alpine in my photo at the Farnborough Air Show back in the good old days. Porteous invented the 'Avalanche' aerobatic manoeuvre (now known as the Porteous Loop) which he used in his displays.

This is a typical Porteous landing, dancing on all 3 wheels in turn before straightening up for a perfect 3-pointer. He demonstrated one Auster fitted with a fully castoring undercarriage & landed it sideways.

Thanks Doug...!
..brings back the only happy memories of my time in the Army, (REME).... 8)...!
Our model was fitted with the "dripsy", Gipsy Major engine, and camouflaged as a spotter plane.
It had a P1, P2 place in the front and a "sideways" seat in the rear.
It was fun to fly, and sounded fantastic, but a sod to take-off and land...typical tai-dragger antics... ...!
We had loads of fun in times, (1956), when the CAA/FAA, etc, were not aware of us, (Germany)...LOL...LOL...LOL...!
Grand times... ...!

Thanks for the snaps Doug... ...!
Got them saved in my Photo's CD....!


Cheers Mate...!

Paul.... rags, tubes, struts, and lots of oil..!

If I had a place to be where I could see these in real life, and be reasonably inexpensive to travel to,......well I think I would be buying lunch and sitting out on the lawn with you Doug as we watch these together !