Auster Autocar
1940s British light aircraft
title: "Auster Autocar" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["high-wing-aircraft", "single-engined-tractor-aircraft", "1940s-british-civil-utility-aircraft", "auster-aircraft", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1949"] description: "1940s British light aircraft" topic_path: "arts/film" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auster_Autocar" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 1940s British light aircraft ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | J/5 Autocar |
| image | Auster J.5B Autocar G-AJYK Airviews Ringway 02.07.50 edited-2.jpg |
| caption | The prototype J/5B Autocar of Airviews Ltd at Manchester Airport in 1950 |
| type | Touring aircraft |
| manufacturer | Auster Aircraft Limited |
| first_flight | August 1949 |
| introduction | 1950 |
| status | Several still airworthy in 2012 |
| primary_user | Private pilot owners |
| produced | 1950-1957 |
| number_built | 202 |
| variants | J/5 Aiglet Trainer |
| :: |
| name = J/5 Autocar | image = Auster J.5B Autocar G-AJYK Airviews Ringway 02.07.50 edited-2.jpg | caption = The prototype J/5B Autocar of Airviews Ltd at Manchester Airport in 1950 | type = Touring aircraft | manufacturer = Auster Aircraft Limited | designer = | first_flight = August 1949 | introduction = 1950 | retired = | status = Several still airworthy in 2012 | primary_user = Private pilot owners | more_users = | produced = 1950-1957 | number_built = 202 | unit cost = | developed_from = | variants = J/5 Aiglet Trainer
The Auster J/5 Autocar is a late 1940s British single-engined four-seat high-wing touring monoplane built by Auster Aircraft Limited at Rearsby, Leicestershire.
Design and production
The company recognised a need for a four-seat touring aircraft to complement the three-seat Auster J/1 Autocrat. The J/5 Autocar looked similar to the Autocrat, but was a new model featuring wing-root fuel tanks and an enlarged cabin.
The designation of J/5 for the Autocar followed on from its progenitor, the wartime Model J, which was designated the Auster AOP.V by the Royal Air Force. Postwar models derived from the Model J commenced with the J/1 Autocrat - note the use of J/1, not J-1. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Auster_J.5G_Autocar_VH-BYT_(2)_BAN_04.10.70_edited-2.jpg" caption="Auster J/5G Autocar at Sydney (Bankstown) Airport in 1970"] ::
The prototype Autocar G-AJYK, a model J/5B, first flew in August 1949 and was exhibited at the Farnborough Air Show in September. A demand for a more powerful version for the tropics produced in 1950 the J/5E powered by a 155 hp (116 kW) Blackburn Cirrus Major engine. This was further developed as the J/5G which was first flown in 1951 and is also referred to as the Cirrus Autocar. The later J/5P reverted to a more powerful de Havilland Gipsy Major engine. Other variants were built as one-off development aircraft, and some were converted in Australia with more modern engines.
Operations
Saunders-Roe of Cowes, Isle of Wight, acquired a J/5G Autocar and fitted it with an experimental hydro-ski undercarriage and emergency under-wing floats. With this equipment, the aircraft could remain almost stationary on the water.
The majority of the production Autocars were exported to sixteen countries and later resold in five further territories. The Autocar has been primarily operated by private pilot owners and by aero clubs but some were used by small charter firms in the UK and elsewhere as taxi and photographic aircraft. Pest Control Ltd took delivery of five J/5G Autocars in 1952 for crop spraying operations in Sudan.
Variants
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Auster_J-5P_Autocar_G-AOHF_Kidlington_10.66.jpg" caption="Kidlington Airport, Oxford]] in 1966"] ::
;Auster J/5B Autocar:production version with a 130 hp (97 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major 1 engine. ;Auster J/5E Autocar:prototype export version with a Blackburn Cirrus Major 3 engine, one built (G-AJYS). ;Auster J/5G Autocar:export version with a 155 hp Blackburn Cirrus Major 3 engine. ;Auster J/5GL:one Auster J/5G converted in Australia by Kingsford Smith Aviation Services (ZK-CXA, a rebuild of ZK-BDK) fitted with a Lycoming piston engine. ;Auster J/5G Super Autocar:One J/5G converted in Australia by Kingsford Smith Aviation Services with a 225 hp (168 kW) Continental O-470 engine. ;Auster J/5H Autocar:with 145 hp (108 kW) Blackburn Cirrus Major 2 engine, one rebuilt (VH-KCO) in Australia by Kingsford Smith Aviation Services from J/5B ;Auster J/5P Autocar:version with a 145 hp (108 kW)de Havilland Gipsy Major 10 engine. ;Auster J/5T Autocar:development aircraft with 185 hp (138 kW) Continental E-185-10 piston engine, one built (G-25-4, c/n 3421) ;Auster J/5V Autocar:development aircraft with 160 hp (120 kW) Lycoming O-320 engine, one built (G-APUW)
;Kingsford Smith Bushmaster :An Auster J/5G conversion in Australia by Kingsford Smith Aviation Services, fitted with a 180hp (134kW) Lycoming O-360 engine, constant speed propeller and other improvements.
Civil operators
United Kingdom
- Airviews Ltd
- Anglian Air Charter
- Bees Flight
- Bristol Aero Engines
- Dunlop Rubber
- Ferranti
- Gloster Aircraft
- Hunting Aerosurveys Ltd
- Pest Control Ltd
- Saunders-Roe
- Southend Flying School
Pakistan
Auster J/5G Cirrus Autocar, registered in Pakistan as AP-AHJ for Government of Pakistan, Department of Plant Protection. Preserved in PAF Museum.
Military operators
;
Specifications (J/5B)
|ref=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54 |prime units?=imp General characteristics
|genhide=
|crew=1 |capacity=3 passengers |length m= |length ft=23 |length in=2 |span m= |span ft=36 |span in=0 |height m= |height ft=7 |height in=7 |wing area sqm= |wing area sqft=185 |empty weight kg= |empty weight lb=1413 |gross weight kg= |gross weight lb=2450 |fuel capacity=145 impgal Powerplant
|eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=de Havilland Gipsy Major I |eng1 type=air-cooled, four-cylinder inline engine |eng1 kw= |eng1 hp=130 |eng1 shp= |eng1 kn= |eng1 lbf= |eng1 kn-ab= |eng1 lbf-ab=
|prop blade number= |prop name= |prop dia m= |prop dia ft= |prop dia in=
Performance
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh= |max speed mph=116 |max speed kts= |max speed mach= |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph=100 |cruise speed kts= |stall speed mph=34 |stall speed note=Flaps down |range km= |range miles=500 |range nmi= |ceiling m= |ceiling ft=11000 |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin=525 |more performance=*Take-off to 50 ft (15 m): 537 yd
- Landing run: 163 yd |avionics=
References
;Notes ;Bibliography
|related= |similar aircraft= |sequence= |lists= |see also=
References
- Hitchman, 1989, p. 53
- Ellison, 1966, p. 72
- Jackson 1973 p. 75
- Jackson 1973, p. 76
- Jackson 1973 p. 77
- Hitchman 2006, pp. 28–29
- "Auster Heritage Group".
- admin. (2017-02-26). "All-Time Aircraft Used List Royal New Zealand Air Force – Aeroflight". Aeroflight.co.uk.
- Bridgman 1953, p. 48.
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