Auster in Oz
Thread Starter
Auster in Oz
I'm planning to bring my Auster out from Blighty to Oz later in the year. Does anybody have any suggestions for "reasonably priced" hangarage in the Gold Coast area?
The little aeroplane that can....
Are you going to fly it out, or put it in a box.??
As a capitial A Adventure flight I can recommend it. Hardest part was getting all the clearances sorted... the flying was pretty straight forward, being a series of cross-countries, that added up to the end game.
If you can flight plan to keep away fom major centres... where the bureaucrazies are, all the better...less BS.
Gold Coast and "reasonable price" are not usually synonomous.
Fear not... you may get lucky and find a good deal.
Welcome to Oz. Always good to have another Auster on the vintage scene.
Happy Landings..!!
As a capitial A Adventure flight I can recommend it. Hardest part was getting all the clearances sorted... the flying was pretty straight forward, being a series of cross-countries, that added up to the end game.
If you can flight plan to keep away fom major centres... where the bureaucrazies are, all the better...less BS.
Gold Coast and "reasonable price" are not usually synonomous.
Fear not... you may get lucky and find a good deal.
Welcome to Oz. Always good to have another Auster on the vintage scene.
Happy Landings..!!
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Australia
Age: 51
Posts: 931
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
hmm, i wonder how well it would work 'down under', I mean the engine is already wrong way up (down?) and the fan spins the wrong way 
it wouldn't blow the dunny budgies away, it'd attract more wouldn't it?
it wouldn't blow the dunny budgies away, it'd attract more wouldn't it?
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: dans un cercle dont le centre est eveywhere et circumfernce n'est nulle part
Posts: 2,606
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A gentleman's aeroplane once mastered gives the pilot the right to say he can actually fly. (as opposed to drive something as crass as having a nosewheel). The gymnastics involved in flap operation builds character and muscle and co-ordination. Can take off in a cricket pitch and similarly land, the belly tank can be accessed in flight and fuel transfered from a drum in the back making it a truly range worthy aircraft.
You may look toward Murwillumbah, just a bit south of Sufferer's Paradise, for more friendly people who appreciate good aeroplanes and have the specialist maintenance facilities available. (as does Redcliff to the north).
If I were a bit younger, I would line up to share the flight from Pommieland to Aust.
Oh, and in the southern hemisphere the engine is the right way up.
You should really consider the adventure.
Cheers.
You may look toward Murwillumbah, just a bit south of Sufferer's Paradise, for more friendly people who appreciate good aeroplanes and have the specialist maintenance facilities available. (as does Redcliff to the north).
If I were a bit younger, I would line up to share the flight from Pommieland to Aust.
Oh, and in the southern hemisphere the engine is the right way up.
You should really consider the adventure.
Cheers.
Like most places, hangarage on the Coast is at a premium. Murwillumbah (40-45mins south) in Northern NSW is a pleasant spot but there are already a number of aircraft standing in the open there and I believe hangarage is very tightly held. The other option is Jacobs Well a bit north of the Coast - there is some turmoil there at present with the property owner, but that may create some opportunities with some people moving off. Happy to forward contact details if required - pm me. Southport is much closer but very expensive, I don't believe there is any scope for casual hangarage there. Several coasties keep aircraft out at Boonah, a picturesque grass strip about an hour, twenty inland. There is also a strip at Tyagarah, near Byron Bay which may be a possibility if you're going to be based toward the southern end of the Gold Coast.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Paradise
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
BC.... do you have something against this fine piece of English aeronautical engineering?
And yes, I have flown J5B, J1B, and J5F.
Did my tailwheel rating in the J5B.
BC
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Australia
Age: 51
Posts: 931
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
BC.... do you have something against this fine piece of English aeronautical engineering?
'Made in England' is actually a globally recognised warning for all mechanical repair tradespeople. it translates to RUN!
Beauty is....
in the eye of the beholder....
I must confess I found the handling a bit daunting when I first tried one as a sprog. But there's the challenge... spend a lot of time with one and get to know its quirks..and its all good from then on.
On old mustering pilot, now deceased, and a Yank .! reckoned the Auster was better than the Super Cub for the job of low level steep turns, etc.
"Aahh doo lark that Auster wang"
At least they were built to last, not like some of that US throw away stuff.
...for example, during rebuild..we found under tube glamps there was a very fine brass mesh with grease,.... and minto tube.
In the Pa 25 Pawnee under the tube clamps was....RUST... so the tube had to be cut out or repaired.
Nice to see a little thought and detail to make the frame last longer.
Love 'em or hate 'em ... they're still a fun machine that keeps you on yr toes.
I must confess I found the handling a bit daunting when I first tried one as a sprog. But there's the challenge... spend a lot of time with one and get to know its quirks..and its all good from then on.
On old mustering pilot, now deceased, and a Yank .! reckoned the Auster was better than the Super Cub for the job of low level steep turns, etc.
"Aahh doo lark that Auster wang"
At least they were built to last, not like some of that US throw away stuff.
...for example, during rebuild..we found under tube glamps there was a very fine brass mesh with grease,.... and minto tube.
In the Pa 25 Pawnee under the tube clamps was....RUST... so the tube had to be cut out or repaired.
Nice to see a little thought and detail to make the frame last longer.
Love 'em or hate 'em ... they're still a fun machine that keeps you on yr toes.
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: dans un cercle dont le centre est eveywhere et circumfernce n'est nulle part
Posts: 2,606
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
most unattractive and least inspiring aeroplane I have ever flown!
I have some ugly photo's of French and Russian photo's if you would like to see them for a comparison.
Moderator
Careful! 
There are those of us old enough to remember when Austers, Chipmunks and later Tri Pacers and Air Tourers were wonderful, modern, state of the art flying machines.......
Also, global positioning systems were a WAC chart, aerials were tuned with a loading box, avgas was dirt cheap, air nav and landing charges weren't invented, a TIF was 10/- (One Dollar) and an hours flying cost £4/10/- (Nine Dollars).
There are those of us old enough to remember when Austers, Chipmunks and later Tri Pacers and Air Tourers were wonderful, modern, state of the art flying machines.......
Also, global positioning systems were a WAC chart, aerials were tuned with a loading box, avgas was dirt cheap, air nav and landing charges weren't invented, a TIF was 10/- (One Dollar) and an hours flying cost £4/10/- (Nine Dollars).
They'd be a good thing if they were designed elsewhere.
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Australia
Age: 51
Posts: 931
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
So yer....it started out as a good design
must be a bit like the difference between a Canadian Chipmunk and a pommie one.
The pomme one, 480 AD's
Canadian one....somthing like 5 AD's
must be a bit like the difference between a Canadian Chipmunk and a pommie one.
The pomme one, 480 AD's
Canadian one....somthing like 5 AD's
I flew a J5F in the sixties, VH-AFT, which still exists somewhere in Victoria, a true testament to its sturdiness of design. The 'F' with its short wings was fully aerobatic but an awkward beast to land. Any lift remaining in the wings all it wanted to do was pig-root down the runway. Heel brakes, a reverse sense trim to the American Pipers, a flap handle designed by a madman and a steel banana for a stick. It certainly was a machine of character. I hope you bring it down here "Lownslow" good luck with it all.
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 484
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Aviation Art
Acrylic on stretched canvas 20cm x 25cm.
VH-BYQ was based in Cairns in the early 1960s as an Air Ambulance. Imagine being SO sick, transport to Cairns was required on a hot,bumpy,noisy slow Auster in the middle of a North Qld summer..... if the illness didn't kill you,the transport probably would have.
VH-BYQ was based in Cairns in the early 1960s as an Air Ambulance. Imagine being SO sick, transport to Cairns was required on a hot,bumpy,noisy slow Auster in the middle of a North Qld summer..... if the illness didn't kill you,the transport probably would have.
Last edited by Aye Ess; 8th Oct 2011 at 03:50.
Auster impressions...
... must be in the hand of the beholder, as well.
The J5F we rebuilt was, in my humble opinion, the nippiest and best Auster to fly... and land. Doesnt have those big butterfly wings to keep it floating and with full flap it would touch down even slower than the light weight J2 Arrow.
All wing and no flaps.!
If AFT went "pig-rooting' then, the problem lies elsewhere... too tight HD bungees or something...???
I did like the J5G with the 180hp Lyco conversion model J5G
/A2....?... levitated like a startled roo.!
All good..!
Arent Taylorcraft still made in the US ?. Part Nos on early Austers are TA #
The J5F we rebuilt was, in my humble opinion, the nippiest and best Auster to fly... and land. Doesnt have those big butterfly wings to keep it floating and with full flap it would touch down even slower than the light weight J2 Arrow.
All wing and no flaps.!
If AFT went "pig-rooting' then, the problem lies elsewhere... too tight HD bungees or something...???
I did like the J5G with the 180hp Lyco conversion model J5G
/A2....?... levitated like a startled roo.!
All good..!
Arent Taylorcraft still made in the US ?. Part Nos on early Austers are TA #