Auster Autocrat

The Auster J/1 Autocrat was a 1940s British single-engined three-seat high-wing touring monoplane built by Auster Aircraft Limited at Rearsby, Leicestershire.

History

As the end of the Second World War approached, the designers at Taylorcraft decided to develop a tourer version of the robust and reliable Taylorcraft Auster Model J AOP.V observation aircraft series. An Auster 5, registered G-AGOH, was modified to take a 100 hp (75 kW) Blackburn Cirrus II engine for trials. At the same time a prototype aircraft was built designated the Taylorcraft Auster V Series J/1 Autocrat. The long name was not used as the company changed name to Auster Aircraft Limited and the aircraft became known as the Auster J/1 Autocrat.Jackson 1973, p. 63.

The designation J/1 derived from the progenitor Model J, which was the Auster AOP.V.Hitchman 1989, p. 53.Ellison 1966, p. 72.

Production and operation

The first production aircraft, registered G-AGTO, was delivered in December 1945. One of the more spectacular feats of the type was the first visit of a civilian aircraft to an aircraft carrier, in the English Channel in October 1946. The last Rearsby built J/1s were delivered in 1952.

The Autocrat became one of the most successful post-war British light aircraft with more than 400 built. A small number of variants were built and the aircraft became the basis for a family of light aircraft. The Autocrat was used by individual pilots, aero clubs and by small charter firms for passenger flights, banner towing and photography.

Many J/1s were converted to J/1N Alpha standard with a higher fin and fitted with a 130 h.p. Gipsy Major engine, as used in the J/1B Aiglet. 45 new build J/1N Alphas were completed in 1956–57, mainly for export to Australia.

A single Autocrat ''G-AGVI'' was converted by V.H. Bellamy in 1965 to be powered by a Rover TP gas turbine engine. It reverted to normal power in 1968.

Starting in 1946, newly built examples of the Autocrat and Alpha were exported direct from the production line at Rearsby to many countries worldwide including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Ceylon, Denmark, Egypt, France, Iraq, Jordan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and Uruguay.Jackson 1973, pp. 67–68. Other UK-registered aircraft were later sold overseas on the secondhand market.

Numbers of Autocrats and Alphas continue to fly into the 2010s with private owners in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere.

Variants

;Auster J/1 Autocrat:production version with Blackburn Cirrus Major engine.Jackson 1973, pp. 63–64. Several later fitted with engines up to the 150 h.p. Lycoming O-320-A1A.
;Auster J/1A Autocrat:additional (fourth-seat) for joyriding.Jackson 1973, p. 64.
;Auster J/1N Alpha:powered by a de Havilland Gipsy Major I engine and with enlarged tail surfaces. Four seater.Jackson 1973, p. 65.
;Auster J/1S Autocrat:powered by a 145 h.p. de Havilland Gipsy Major 10 Mk 2-2 engine.

;Kingsford Smith Kingsmith
:An Auster J/1 conversion in Australia by Kingsford Smith Aviation Services, fitted with a 150hp (112kW) Avco Lycoming O-320 engineJackson 1973, p. 67. and other improvement (including better seating and sound-proofing).

Operators

Civil operators

;
* Imperial Iranian Aero Club
;
*Sherut Avir
*Israeli Air Force
;
*Kuwait Air Force
;
*Royal Jordanian Air Force
;
*Royal Pakistan Air Force
;
*Rhodesian Air Force – one aircraft only
;
*Southern Rhodesian Air Force – one aircraft only

Specifications (Auster J/1 Autocrat)

See also

In popular culture

An Auster Autocrat (registration G-AJAE) was featured in Episode 10 of the LWT series ''The Gold Robbers'' which first aired in August 1969.

An Auster Autocrat (registration G-AIGD) was featured in Episode 42 of the BBC series ''Father Brown'' which first aired in January 2016.

An Auster J/1N featured in ''Foyle's War'' Series 8 Episode 3, ''Elise'', airdate January 2015.

References

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Further reading

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External links

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{{Auster aircraft

High-wing aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
1940s British civil utility aircraft
Auster aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1945