Taylorcraft Auster Mk. III

History

The origin of the Auster refers back to an American sport aircraft, the Taylorcraft Auster B.
The English factory Taylorcraft Aeroplanes Limited acquired the license rights in 1939 and built Model C with a Lycoming 0-145 A2 of 55 hp. The Auster Plus Model C was a version with a 65 hp Lycoming engine.

Soon a version, designated Model Plus D, equipped a British engine, a Blackburn Cirrus Minor I 90 hp, was developed. This engine was not only powerful, but also quieter .
Of this version over 100 examples were built and it entered service as Auster I in 1941, a so-called Air Observation Post (AOP) aircraft for use by the British Army.

The Auster II, a version with an American Lycoming 0-290 engine,  never entered production because the engine was hardly available at that time.

This led to the development of the Auster Mark III which had the Lycoming engine replaced by a DeHavilland Gipsy Major. Noteworthy were the individual exhaust pipes for each cylinder .
The next version, the Auster Mark IV was provided with an enlarged cabin and was equipped with the engine Lycoming 0-290.

The Auster Mark V was a blind fly version of the Auster IV.

Shortly after the end of the war the Auster VI was developed from the Auster IV/V and was fitted an extended undercarriage and "airfoil flaps", so that it had better starting characteristics than the previous versions .

As an engine DeHavilland Gipsy Major was applied and further the (internal) fuel supply was increased.

During and immediately after World War II, the Auster was used for artillery observation, evacuation and light transport. Since the 60s of the 20th century, these tasks were mainly done by helicopters.

Versions.