Auster J/4

The Auster J/4 was a 1940s British single-engined two-seat high-wing touring monoplane built by Auster Aircraft Limited at Rearsby, Leicestershire.

Auster J/4
Auster J/4 at PFA Rally held at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, in July 1989
Role Touring aircraft
Manufacturer Auster Aircraft Limited
First flight 1946
Number built 27
Developed from Auster J/2 Arrow

History

Sales in the United Kingdom of the American-engined Auster J/2 Arrow were limited by import restrictions on the engines, so Auster re-engined the aircraft with a British engine, the 90 hp Blackburn Cirrus Minor I. The first aircraft flew towards the end of 1946. The two-seat aircraft proved less popular than the companies three-seat Auster J/1 Autocrat and only 27 aircraft were built. A number of aircraft were exported to Australia and these were known as the Archer in that country.[1]

Two J4 airframes (G-AIPH & G-AIJT) were modified with Continental O-200 engines in the late 1960s by the Rolls-Royce employees “Merlin Flying Club”. G-AIJT remains airworthy.

On 30 August 1955 an Australian aircraft VH-AET managed to take-off from Bankstown Airport Sydney without a pilot. It was followed out to sea by Royal Australian Navy Hawker Sea Furies and shot down.[1]

Specifications (J/4)

Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1949-50,[2] The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage,[3] British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume I[4]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
  • Wingspan: 36 ft 1 in (11.0 m)
  • Height: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) tail down, propeller horizontal
  • Wing area: 185 sq ft (17.2 m2)
  • Aspect ratio: 6.857
  • Airfoil: NACA 23012
  • Empty weight: 955 lb (433 kg)
  • Gross weight: 1,600 lb (726 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: Fuel:15 imp gal (18 US gal; 68 L) in fuselage fuel tank, with 13.75 imp gal (16.51 US gal; 62.5 L) under-fuselage auxiliary tank; Oil:2 imp gal (2.4 US gal; 9.1 L) aft of engine.
  • Powerplant: 1 × Blackburn Cirrus Minor I 4-cylinder inverted air-cooled in-line piston engine, 90 hp (67 kW) maximum at 2,600rpm
  • Propellers: 2-bladed Weybridge wooden fixed pitch propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 108 mph (174 km/h, 94 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 92 mph (148 km/h, 80 kn) at 2,300 rpm
  • Stall speed: 37 mph (60 km/h, 32 kn)
  • Range: 317 mi (510 km, 275 nmi) in still air
  • Service ceiling: 12,500 ft (3,800 m)
  • Rate of climb: 746 ft/min (3.79 m/s)
  • Wing loading: 8.65 lb/sq ft (42.2 kg/m2)
  • Fuel consumption: 0.3234 lb/mi (0.0912 kg/km)
  • Power/mass: 17.1 lb/hp (10.4 kg/kW)
  • Take-off run: 150 yd (140 m) in 5 mph (4.3 kn; 8.0 km/h) wind
  • Landing run: 80 yd (73 m) in 5 mph (4.3 kn; 8.0 km/h) wind

See also

Related lists

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Auster J/4.
  1. Ellison, N.H.; MacDemitria, R.O. (1966). Auster Aircraft – Aircraft Production List. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p. 55.
  2. Bridgman, Leonard, ed. (1949). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1949-50. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. pp. 20c–21c.
  3. Selig, M. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  4. Jackson, A. J. (1987). British Civil Aviation since 1919 Volume 1 (2nd with corrections ed.). London: Putnam. pp. 71–74. ISBN 978-0-370-10006-7.
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