25-402: Auster AOP may refer to: Taylorcraft Auster - Taylorcraft Auster I, II, III, IV and V Auster AOP.6 Auster AOP.9 Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Auster AOP . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
50-415: A high position without having the cylinders blocking the pilot's forward view over the nose of the aircraft. One initial disadvantage of the inverted configuration was the high oil consumption (up to four pints per hour) requiring regular refills of the external oil tank; this problem improved over time with the use of modified piston rings . First built in 1932, total production of all Gipsy Major versions
75-530: A squadron was generally assigned to each corps, but under command for technical matters of an RAF group. The Royal Australian Air Force 's No. 16 AOP Flight and No. 17 AOP Flight operated Auster Mark III aircraft in support of the Australian Army in the Pacific Theatre from October 1944 until the end of the war. Postwar Auster AOP aircraft were reorganised into independent flights (probably because
100-510: Is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft produced in the 1930s, including the famous Tiger Moth biplane . Many Gipsy Major engines still power vintage aircraft types. Engines were produced by de Havilland in the UK and by the Australian arm of the company, de Havilland Australia , the latter modifying the design to use imperial measures rather than
125-731: The Royal 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 the Army 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 roles performed by Auster and similar light aircraft were generally taken over by light helicopters from
150-736: The Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited company during the Second World War . The Auster was a twice-removed development of an American Taylorcraft design of civilian aircraft, the Model A . The Model A had to be redesigned in Britain to meet more stringent Civil Aviation standards and was named the Taylorcraft Plus C . After the start of the Second World War, the company developed
175-752: The Cirrus Minor I and re-designated as Plus C2 . Pre-war tests identified the Taylorcraft Model D as the most suitable aircraft for the AOP role. Three more Ds 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 and one Stinson 105, and three artillery and one RAF pilots, moved to France where they trained with artillery and practiced fighter avoidance with Hurricanes of Air Component before moving south to train with French artillery. The flight did not participate in
200-503: The Gipsy Major used in helicopter applications delivered 220 hp (164 kW). By 1945 the Gipsy Major had been cleared for a world record 1,500 hours time between overhaul (TBO), surpassing its previously held world record of 1,260 hours TBO achieved in 1943. 1,000 hours TBO had earlier been achieved in 1938. Application list from Lumsden unless otherwise noted. Many Gipsy Major engines remain in service today worldwide, in
225-673: The Gipsy Twelve became known as the Gipsy King and the Gipsy Six the Gipsy Queen . The advent of World War II cut short all civilian flying and after the war de Havilland was too busy concentrating on jet engines to put much energy into its piston engines. The Gipsy did not go without a fight though. In Canada the Gipsy Major was the engine of choice for the DHC1 Chipmunk trainer, which replaced
250-553: The RAF used Wing-Commanders, equivalent to Lieutenant-Colonels, to command squadrons while the army insisted on a major's command) including 1903 Flight in Korea that had artillery pilots from several Commonwealth countries. There was also an Auster-equipped Liaison Flight, No 1913, in that theatre. Air OP flights also operated in the Malayan Emergency. Several AOP squadrons were reformed within
275-739: The RAF) operated after D-Day in France, the Low Countries and into Germany. No. 664 Squadron RCAF , No. 665 Squadron RCAF , and No. 666 Squadron RCAF were also issued with the Auster Mk. IV and V, formed in the UK at RAF Andover in late 1944 and early 1945. The RCAF squadrons were manned by Canadian personnel of the Royal Canadian Artillery and the RCAF, with brief secondment to the squadrons with pilots from
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#1732838535371300-625: The Royal Artillery; control was maintained in the UK by 70 Group, RAF Fighter Command . The three squadrons deployed from RAF Andover, England, to the Netherlands, to Dunkirk in France, where the last Canadian 'shots' in Europe were fired, and later to occupied Germany. No. 656 Squadron RAF was assigned to 14th Army and used Austers in Burma, generally with flights assigned to each corps. In European theatres
325-680: The Tiger Moth trainer in RAF service after the war. By then however, the Gipsy Major was eclipsed by the Blackburn Cirrus Major in Britain and the American Lycoming and Continental horizontally opposed engines abroad. (In a twist of irony, the Blackburn itself was based on Frank Halford ’s old ADC Cirrus engine; Blackburn had bought the licence in 1934). In its final supercharged form,
350-849: The core of Israel's air force in the early part of the 1947–1949 Palestine war , being used for reconnaissance and resupply missions, while also being used to drop home-made bombs on Arab forces. Data from British Warplanes of World War II and British Aircraft of World War II . General characteristics Performance Was sold to Fliegerclub Fürstenfeld in 1964, removed from flying in 1984 and put in long term storage until 2004. Now restored to original authentic RAF WWII D Day factory config including camouflage between 2006-2012 by Erich and Matthias Lemmerer; Aircraft based in Austria; Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists De Havilland Gipsy Major The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA
375-568: The fighting and withdrew without loss to the UK. However, the War Office then ordered 100 Stinson L-1 Vigilants . Formation of the RAF's Army Cooperation Command in December 1940 led to the RAF rejecting the very notion of light AOP aircraft. Intercession by General Alan Brooke led to an accommodation that led to the first AOP pilot course for artillery officers taking place in October 1940 and in 1941,
400-537: The first AOP squadron, No 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 placed. Some of the Stinsons were resurrected but found to be too big for the AOP role. The Auster II was a re-engined aircraft with an American 130 hp (97 kW) Lycoming O-290 engine. Due to
425-614: The ground. On 31 March 1943 the Army Cooperation Command was disbanded, most of its assets being used to form the Second Tactical Air Force . Four squadrons (No. 651, No. 654 Squadron RAF , No. 655 Squadron RAF and No. 657 Squadron RAF ) fought in North Africa and Italy, being joined from August 1944 by No. 663 Polish squadron . The other seven squadrons (Nos. 652 , 653 , 658 , 659 , 660 , 661 and 662 of
450-434: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Auster_AOP&oldid=932701206 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Taylorcraft Auster The Taylorcraft Auster was a British military liaison and observation aircraft produced by
475-648: The mid-1960s. Several Taylorcraft Austers formed, with other civil light aircraft, part of the initial equipment of the Sherut Avir , formed in November 1947 as the air component of the Jewish paramilitary organisation Haganah , which later became part of the Israeli 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
500-585: The model further as an air observation post (AOP)—flown by officers of the Royal Artillery and used for directing artillery fire of British Army Royal Artillery units. The Plus C was re-engined with the Blackburn Cirrus Minor I engine and was re-designated as the Taylorcraft Plus D . Most of the civil Plus Cs and Ds were impressed into Royal Air Force service, the Plus Cs were re-engined with
525-481: The original metric measurements . The engine was a slightly modified Gipsy III , which was effectively a de Havilland Gipsy engine modified to run inverted so that the cylinders pointed downwards below the crankcase . The Major was also bored-out (118 mm from 114 mm) compared to the Gipsy III, increasing displacement from 5 L to 6.1 L. The inverted configuration allowed the propeller shaft to be kept in
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#1732838535371550-661: The shortage of American engines that version was not built but led to the Auster 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 the Auster IV ( Model G ) which had a slightly larger cabin with three seats and used the Lycoming O-290. The major production version was the Auster V ( Model J ) which
575-593: Was No. 651 Squadron RAF . The leading elements landed in Algiers on 12 November 1942 with eight aircraft, 11 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 the Army's No 22 Wireless, an HF set providing two-way voice communications with artillery units and formations on
600-485: Was 14,615 units. In 1934, when Geoffrey de Havilland needed a more powerful engine for his twin-engined transport aircraft, the four-cylinder Gipsy Major was further developed into the 200 hp six-cylinder Gipsy Six . In 1937 even more power was needed for the new D.H.91 Albatross four-engined transatlantic mailplane, and so two Gipsy Six cylinder banks were combined to form one 525 hp (391 kW) Gipsy Twelve 12-cylinder inverted Vee . In military service,
625-851: Was an Auster IV with blind flying instruments , and a conventional trimmer design. Post war, the Auster Mark V was used as the basis for the Auster J/1 Autocrat intended for the civilian market; the British firm having changed their name to Auster and stopped licensing from Taylorcraft. Further military aircraft were supplied post war; the Auster AOP6 , Auster T7 (a trainer), and the Auster AOP9 . The Auster Mark III, IV and V were issued to 12 RAF, one Polish and three Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) air observation post (AOP) Squadrons. The first to deploy
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