Auster Belly Tank

[JW411]

Can anyone out there give me the official capacity of the Auster belly tank?

[junction34]

If I remember correctly it's 13.75 Imperial Gallons in the belly (J1), 15 Imp Gal in the fuselage main.

Hope this helps.
-j34-

[JW411]

Many thanks; that confirms the same figure that I got from a NZ source.

[Croqueteer]

:)Your'e not thinking of getting an Auster, are you JW411?

[JW411]

Absolutely not!

[Tail-take-off]

Nah, he wouldn't be able to fly it in balance let alone land the thing.

[JW411]

Well, I actually got the Auster out of my system about 30 years ago. As to my tail-dragging abilities, I did my PPL on the Tiger Moth and my initial RAF training on the Piston Provost. Nor did I have any trouble with the Rapide.

The Auster was a breeze.

In any event, I have just sold my aeroplane so for the first time in a few years I have just become a non-owner.

However, a friend of mine has got involved with a Terrier down in the southern hemisphere - hence the original question.

[gasax]

The capacity of a real Auster belly tank is as given. If this aircraft is downunder they may be some differences. IIRC the local dealers carried out quite a number of modifications - belly tanks included - which were very necessary in that area.

From memory the local tanks generally had flat sides and a curved centre section rather than the Auster fully dished bottom and flat top. Their capacity? no idea!

[JW411]

gasax:

A very good point thank you. However, we appear to be talking about the "proper" belly tank in this case.

Would anyone like to comment on the cruise consumption of the Terrier 2? I have been given a ballpark figure of 7.5 imp gals per hour.

[Croqueteer]

:OMany years ago flying in a friends Terrier Aberdeen to Cranfield we were passing the old Doncaster airfield when a sailplane came from behind, sat on our wingtip then accelerated off ahead. At the time I noted that we were burning nearly 8gph, and oil at about a quart an hour. It's a hard a/c to love. sorry Gasax ( It might even have been G-ASAX we were in)

[Echo Romeo]

Would anyone like to comment on the cruise consumption of the Terrier 2?

That sounds about right, I work in ltrs and mine will burn 32 at 2000 rpm which will give me 80 ish kts Ias. If I fly at 21-2150 rpm it delivers 90 ish kts but my consumption increases to about 35/36 lts/hr.

Hope that helps.

[gasax]

I suspect it was the same infamous GASAX, lead aircraft of the Jacobite Air Force and based at Netherly at that time.

Consumption wise I used to average 7.5 to 8 gallons per hours - with about 0.25 to 0.5 pt of oil - once all the rings had been sorted. That would give 90kts

I remember being amazed reading the Pilots Manual cover to cover and having explored the time to height tables at all sorts of speeds and landings at many altitudes, being unable to find even a single mention of fuel consumption....

[LowNSlow]

Hmm, the belly tank on my Autocrat is 11 imp gallons as I recall.

I've been told that the UK and Oz versions have the fillers on different sides. Which side of the aircraft does the filler neck stick out from? Mine is on the starboard side as seen from the rear.

[gasax]

My 13.75 gal genuine Auster tank had the filler on the port side. But given Auster's ability to make anything they needed pretty much that day and their tendency to never make a series of anything who knows?

Even the wing tank capacities can be different (a Terrier I knew of had on 11 and one 16 gallon tank!!!

At the end of the day the only way to be sure is to fill them ad then run them down until the engine starts to die and then measure what goes back in.
My belly tank would have virtually nothing left in it - but I've heard of others where their might be well over a gallon in the bottom.....

[kaz3g]

My J5D (a civilianised AOP 5) holds 58 litres in the belly and 62 in the main (behind the firewall)... and every time I fly it I am reminded of how lucky I am to be able to.

It has a Lycoming 0-320 160hp and less than 1000 hrs TT and we were both conceived in 1944.

Google VH-BYM for photos.

kaz

[VOD80]

Kaz3g,

Nice looking Auster, your engine cowling suits the Auster very well. I prefer it to the normal Mk5 version (O-290). Looks like you've done a bit of modernising in other places as well :)

I had a J/5K - no belly tank though!

[kaz3g]

58 litres in the belly and 62 in the main = 120 litres which doesn't keep mine going very far in this big country, Australia.

I have the only Auster Ajax built. It is designated a J5D and it was originally an AOP but later modified by Kingsford Smith and named the "Ajax". It has less than 1000 hours TT.

It has a Lycoming 0-325 160 hp, TAS is 100 knots and I plan 34 LPH.

My last good trip away was around Central Australia when I did 3500 miles in 8 days over some of the remotest areas you can imagine.

I notice some people tend to knock them but those who are really honest tend to admit they are a little more demanding than many other small TW aircraft and a good stepping stone into those big, hairy WW2 war birds that I, for one, dream about.

kaz