Auster B.4

The Auster B.4 was an unusual British development of the Auster family of light aircraft in an attempt to create a light cargo aircraft.

Auster B.4
The Auster B.4 at the Farnborough SBAC Show in September 1953
Role Light freighter
Manufacturer Auster
First flight 7 September 1951
Number built 1

Design

The conventional fuselage was considerably redesigned, turning it into a pod-and-boom configuration carrying the tail unit on a high boom. The rear of the fuselage pod was equipped with clamshell doors for easy loading and unloading, and a quadricycle undercarriage was fitted, retaining the mainwheels from earlier Auster designs, but adding a tailwheel to each side of the fuselage pod. The fuselage floor had fittings for seats, cargo tie-downs, or litters for the air ambulance role.

Operational history

The prototype was exhibited at the Farnborough Air Show in September 1953.

Although evaluated by the British Army in military markings, neither civil nor military orders ensued, and no examples were constructed beyond the single prototype

Specifications

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1955–56[1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1 pilot
  • Capacity:
    • 3 passengers or
    • 2 stretchers and attendant or
    • Cargo
  • Length: 24 ft 8 in (7.52 m)
  • Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m)
  • Height: 8 ft 4+1⁄2 in (2.553 m)
  • Wing area: 189.75 sq ft (17.628 m2)
  • Empty weight: 1,642 lb (745 kg)
  • Gross weight: 2,600 lb (1,179 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 23 imp gal (28 US gal; 100 L)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Blackburn Cirrus Bombardier 702 4-cylinder inverted inline engine, 180 hp (130 kW)

Performance

  • Cruise speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
  • Range: 300 mi (480 km, 260 nmi)
  • Rate of climb: 730 ft/min (3.7 m/s)
  • Takeoff distance to 50 ft (15 m): 1,245 ft (379 m)
  • Landing distance from 50 ft (15 m): 765 ft (233 m)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Auster B.4.
  1. Bridgman 1955, p. 50.
  • Bridgman, Leonard (1955). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1955–56. New York: The McGraw-Hill Book Company.
  • Simpson, R. W. (1995). Airlife's General Aviation. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing. pp. 38, 42.
  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 85.
  • World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 889 Sheet 84.

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