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Auster J-1 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auster Aircraft
Auster Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1938 to 1961.Willis, issue 122, p.55 History The company began in 1938 at the Britannia Works, Thurmaston near Leicester, England, as Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited, making light observation aircraft designed by the Taylorcraft, Taylorcraft Aircraft Corporation of America. 1,604 high-wing Taylorcraft Auster monoplanes were built during World War II for the armed forces of the UK and Canada, primarily for the role of air observation post (AOP). During the war the head office and drawing office were at a big old house on the outskirts of Thurmaston called "The Woodlands". The fuselages and wings were manufactured at Syston under the works manager by the name of Sharp. Sheet metalwork was done at the old 'en tout cas' works at Thurmaston. Final assembly, fitting out and testing took place at Rearsby aerodrome. The name changed to Auster (after Notus#Auster, the Roman name for the south wind) on 7 March 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avco Lycoming O-320
The Lycoming O-320 is a large family of naturally aspirated, air-cooled, horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, direct-drive engines produced by Lycoming Engines. Introduced in 1953, it is commonly used on light aircraft such as the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee, and remains in production as of 2024. Different variants are rated for 150 or 160 horsepower (112 or 119 kilowatts). Design and development The O-320 family of engines includes the carbureted O-320, the fuel-injected IO-320, the inverted mount, fuel-injected AIO-320 and the aerobatic, fuel-injected AEIO-320 series. The LIO-320 is a "left-handed" version with the crankshaft rotating in the opposite direction for use on twin-engined aircraft to eliminate the critical engine. The first O-320 (with no suffix) was FAA certified on 28 July 1953 to CAR 13 effective 5 March 1952; this same engine was later re-designated, without change, as the O-320-A1A. The first IO-320 was certified on 10 April 1961, with the AIO-320 fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High-wing Aircraft
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing configuration and is the simplest to build. However, during the early years of flight, these advantages were offset by its greater weight and lower manoeuvrability, making it relatively rare until the 1930s. Since then, the monoplane has been the most common form for a fixed-wing aircraft. Characteristics Support and weight The inherent efficiency of the monoplane is best achieved in the cantilever wing, which carries all structural forces internally. However, to fly at practical speeds the wing must be made thin, which requires a heavy structure to make it strong and stiff enough. External bracing can be used to improve structural efficiency, reducing weight and cost. For a wing of a given size, the weight reduction allows it to fly slower an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gold Robbers
''The Gold Robbers'' is a thirteen-part British crime drama series starring Peter Vaughan, Artro Morris, Richard Leech and Peter Copley; the series was produced by LWT and shown on Friday evenings on ITV between 6 June and 29 August 1969. The series was created and devised by John Hawkesworth, it was inspired by the Great Train Robbery which took place on the early hours of 8 August 1963 when £2.61 million was stolen from a Royal Mail train at a railway bridge in Ledburn, Buckinghamshire. Former CID chief DC Supt. Alfred Butler, who worked on the investigation into the robbery, served as the series' technical advisor. The series was highly successful for LWT, repeatedly gathering audiences of around 15 million viewers, frequently overtaking the BBC in the ratings. It was later sold to ten countries and nominated for a drama series award at 1969 Television Awards organised by The Society of Film and Television Arts in 1970. Overview The series follows the lengthy police invest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weybridge
Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the River Wey, which flows into the River Thames to the north of the town centre. The earliest evidence of human activity is from the Bronze Age. During the Anglo-Saxon and Middle Ages, medieval periods, Weybridge was held by Chertsey Abbey. In 2011 it had a population of 15,449. In the 1530s, Henry VIII constructed Oatlands Palace to the north of the town centre, which he intended to be the residence of his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. He married Catherine Howard there in July 1540 and the palace remained a royal residence until the English Civil War, Civil War. The buildings were demolished in the early 1650s and a new mansion, Oatlands House, was constructed to the east of Weybridge later the same century. Prince Frederic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairey-Reed
The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Cheshire that designed important military aircraft, including the Fairey III family, the Swordfish, Firefly, and Gannet. It had a strong presence in the supply of naval aircraft, and also built bombers for the RAF. After World War II, the company diversified into mechanical engineering and boat-building. The aircraft manufacturing arm was taken over by Westland Aircraft in 1960. Following a series of mergers and takeovers, the principal successor businesses to the company became FBM Babcock Marine, Spectris, and WFEL (formerly Williams Fairey Engineering Limited), the latter manufacturing portable bridges. History Founded in 1915 by Charles Richard Fairey (later Sir Richard Fairey) and Belgian engineer Ernest Oscar Tips on their departure from Short Brothers, the company first built under licence or as su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackburn Cirrus Minor 2
The Blackburn Cirrus Minor is a British four-cylinder, inverted, in-line air-cooled aero-engine that was designed and built by the Cirrus Engine Section of Blackburn Aircraft Limited in the late 1930s. Design and development The Cirrus Minor started life as a clean-sheet replacement for the original Cirrus and Hermes series of light aircraft engines. Design was led by Technical Director C. S. Napier, son of Montague Napier, and was already under way when in 1934 Cirrus-Hermes Engineering was taken over by the Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company and moved to Brough in Yorkshire."A New Small Engine", ''Flight'', 28 February 1935, pp.218-9."The 'Cirrus Major'", ''Flight'', 13 June 1935. Supplement. Napier remained Technical Director and, while he completed the development and initial sales of the Cirrus Minor and its larger stablemate the Cirrus Major, Blackburn kept Cirrus Hermes Engineering as a separate company (though without the hyphen in its name). Although completely new ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Rhodesian Air Force
The Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) was an air force based in Salisbury (now Harare) which represented several entities under various names between 1935 and 1980: originally serving the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, it was the air arm of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland between 1953 and 31 December 1963; of Southern Rhodesia once again from 1 January 1964; and of the unrecognised nation of Rhodesia following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain on 11 November 1965. Named the Royal Rhodesian Air Force (RRAF) from 1954, the "Royal" prefix was dropped in 1970 when Rhodesia declared itself a republic – the official abbreviation changed appropriately. When the internationally recognised country of Zimbabwe came into being in 1980, the RhAF became the Air Force of Zimbabwe. History Formed in 1935 under the name Southern Rhodesia Staff Corps Air Unit as a territorial unit, the first regular servicemen with the unit went to Britain for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhodesian Air Force
The Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) was an air force based in Salisbury (now Harare) which represented several entities under various names between 1935 and 1980: originally serving the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, it was the air arm of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland between 1953 and 31 December 1963; of Southern Rhodesia once again from 1 January 1964; and of the unrecognised nation of Rhodesia following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain on 11 November 1965. Named the Royal Rhodesian Air Force (RRAF) from 1954, the "Royal" prefix was dropped in 1970 when Rhodesia declared itself a republic – the official abbreviation changed appropriately. When the internationally recognised country of Zimbabwe came into being in 1980, the RhAF became the Air Force of Zimbabwe. History Formed in 1935 under the name Southern Rhodesia Staff Corps Air Unit as a territorial unit, the first regular servicemen with the unit went to Britain f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when required, and a tertiary role of providing strategic airlift capability to Pakistan. , per the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the PAF has more than 70,000 active-duty personnel. PAF is the largest Air Force of the Muslim world in terms of aircraft fleet. Its primary mandate and mission is "to provide, in synergy with other inter-services, the most efficient, assured and cost effective aerial defence of Pakistan." Since its establishment in 1947, the PAF has been involved in various combat operations, providing aerial support to the operations and relief efforts of the Pakistani military. Under Article 243, the Constitution of Pakistan appoints the president of Pakistan as the civilian commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Arme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Jordanian Air Force
The Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; Arabic: سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, ''Silāḥ al-Jaww al-Malakī al-ʾUrdunī'') is the aerial warfare branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces. Founded in 1955, the RJAF serves as the primary air defense organization in Jordan, with the mission of defending the nation’s airspace, providing ground support, and contributing to the broader national security strategy. Its role has expanded over the years from purely defensive operations to include Peacekeeping, humanitarian support, and active participation in regional coalitions. Headquartered in Amman, the RJAF operates a variety of advanced fighter aircraft, helicopters, and transport aircraft, with bases strategically positioned across Jordan. Since its establishment, the RJAF has undergone significant modernization efforts, enhancing its capabilities to address evolving security challenges. The force also collaborates closely with international allies, including the United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuwait Air Force
The Kuwait Air Force () is the air arm of the Armed Forces of Kuwait. The Air Force headquarters is located at Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base, with the remaining forces stationed at Air Defense Brigades, Ali Al Salem Air Base and Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base. The Kuwait Air Force numbers approximately 2,500 officers and enlisted personnel. History The Kuwait Air Force was founded in 1953 by Field Marshal Sheikh Abdullah Mubarak Al-Sabah when the Directorate of Public Security Force split from the Kuwaiti Army; the new force was equipped with a number of Austers in different configurations and two de Havilland DH.104 Doves. The Kuwait Air Force was expanded concurrently with the course of the British intervention during Operation Vantage that deterred Iraq from annexing Kuwait as one of its provinces. The first aircraft to enter KAF service were four Whirlwind helicopters and six BAC/Hunting Jet Provost T.51s. This support from the UK would remain in place for a long time and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
