Auster J family The Auster J series was a family of British light civil utility aircraft developed in the 1940s and 50s by Auster 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 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 . Postwar models derived from the Model J commenced with the J / 1 Autocrat - ( note the use of J / 1 , not J - 1 ) . Development . 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 , HMS " Illustrious " in the English Channel in October 1946 . The Autocrat became one of the most successful post - war British light aircraft with more than 400 built before the last Rearsby - built J / 1s were delivered in 1952 . . A small number of variants were built and the aircraft became the basis for a family of light aircraft . The Autocrat of 1946 had achieved considerable sales success but orders died away in the late 1940s . Few sales were achieved in the important Australian market as the Autocrat ' s 100 h . p . engine was not powerful enough for the harsher summer conditions experienced there . In 1950 , Auster utilised an uncompleted Autocrat airframe and wing structure and incorporated a larger fin and rudder to compensate for the installation of a 130 h . p . de Havilland Gipsy Major engine which had been modified by the fitment of double scavenge pumps to match the cooling system . The prototype J / 1N Alpha first flew in 1950 and was followed by several other conversions of Autocrat airframes , but construction soon switched to the use of new airframes . Most sales were made in Australia and New Zealand . The majority of aircraft were exported engineless to Kingsford Smith Aviation Services in Sydney where they were completed and tested before delivery . 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 . The J / 5 Adventurer three - seat high - wing monoplane was developed from the J / 1 Autocrat with extra power provided by the installation of the 130 h . p . Gipsy Major engine , to enable more flexible operations in the hotter climate of Australia and New Zealand , where most examples were sold . Unlike the similarly powered J / 1 Aiglet and J / 1N Alpha , the Adventurer retained the smaller tail surfaces of the Autocrat , the new engine being set back sufficiently far for the original fin area to remain sufficient . The prototype Adventurer was converted to the new standard from a J / 1 Autocrat c / n 2093 and first flew on 15 November 1947 . This was followed by a further 58 production examples delivered between 1948 and 1952 . The company recognised a need for a four - seat touring aircraft to complement the three - seat J / 1 Autocrat , developing the J / 5 Autocar featuring wing - root fuel tanks and an enlarged cabin . The prototype Autocar " G - AJYK " , a model J / 5B , first flew in August 1949 and was exhibited at the 1949 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 first flown in 1951 . The need for rugged inexpensive trainer aircraft throughout the Commonwealth spurred Auster to develop the J / 5 Aiglet Trainer , which , despite its name , had nothing to do with the J / 1B Aiglet , being an aerobatic development of the J / 5 Autocar , with new wings and stressed for aerobatics , the prototype flying for the first time on 2 June 1951 . Most Aiglet Trainers were bought by private pilots and flying clubs , but 15 went to the Pakistan Air Force , 14 to the Iran Civil Aviation Club and two to the Lebanese Air Force . Auster J / 1U Workmaster . Following the experience of developing the J / 1B Aiglet agricultural aircraft , Auster developed a more powerful successor the J / 1U Workmaster . Using the basic Autocrat fuselage it was strengthened and had dorsal fin fillets added , low pressure tyres and a 180 hp ( 134 kW ) Lycoming O - 360 - A engine . Of traditional high - wing layout , it carries 90 gallons of spray fluid in a tank beside the pilot , an extra seat being provided for a passenger . The Lycoming engine driving a McCauley v . p . propeller giving it ample power ; with slotted ailerons , balanced tail controls and oversize tyres providing good handling during operations in restricted spaces and rough surfaces . The aircraft were fitted with Britten - Norman rotary atomizers for crop spraying and a 100 imperial gallon ( 455 litre ) chemical tank in the fuselage , with an emergency dump valve allowing the tank to be emptied in 5 seconds . The Workmasters were mainly operated in West Africa , three returned to the UK later and are currently ( 2009 ) on the U . K . civil aircraft register . Auster J / 5 Q & R Alpine . The J / 5R Alpine was a hybrid aircraft , with the prototype and nine production aircraft assembled using J / 5 Aiglet Trainer fuselages fitted with the J - 1 Autocrat wings . A lower powered version was built as the J / 5Q alpine , powered by a de Havilland Gipsy Major 1 engine . Auster Avis . The Auster Avis featured a redesigned fuselage incorporating four doors and a circular cross - section towards the tail , new undercarriage , and new wing flaps . It was planned in two versions , the Mk 1 for civil use , and the Mk 2 for military and air ambulance duties . However , only two prototypes were built , and Auster abandoned the project in favour of the J - 5 Autocar . Auster Two - seaters . Auster J / 2 Arrow . The Arrow was designed as a successor to the pre - war Taylorcraft Plus C monoplane . A development aircraft , a side - by - side two - seater , first flew in 1946 powered by Lycoming O - 145 - B3 flat four air - cooled engined . Import restrictions on the sale of American engines resulted in the nearly all of the 44 aircraft built being exported , mainly to Australia . Auster J / 3 Atom . The Atom was an attempt to create a lower - powered version of the J - 2 Arrow . A modified Arrow was flown with a 65 hp Continental C65 - 12 engine and designated the J / 3 Atom . Only the prototype , registered " G - AHSY " , ( c / n 2250 ) was built as the aircraft was not developed further . Another example " G - AJIJ " ( c / n 2401 ) was not completed . The sole J / 3 was dismantled at Rearsby in 1950 and was rebuilt to J / 4 standard with a new registration " G - AJYX " and c / n 2941 . It crashed near Melton Mowbray on 22 April 1951 after a pilotless take - off from Rearsby . The Continental C65 engine had been replaced by a 95 hp Blackburn Cirrus Minor II . This aircraft has since been deregistered by the Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA ) . Auster J / 4 . Sales in the UK of the American engined J / 2 Arrow were limited by import restrictions on the engines , so Auster re - engined the aircraft with a 90 hp Blackburn Cirrus Minor I . The first aircraft flew towards the end of 1946 . The two - seat aircraft proved less popular than the companies three - seat J / 1 Autocrat and only 27 aircraft were built , a number of which were exported to Australia , where they were known as the Auster J / 4 Archer . On 30 August 1955 an Australian aircraft " VH - AET " managed to take - off from Bankstown Airport Sydney without a pilot . It was followed out to sea by Royal Australian Navy Hawker Sea Fury s and shot down . Operational history . The Autocar has been primarily operated by private pilot owners 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 . The Aiglet was particularly suited to use by agricultural spraying and dusting contractors . The spray bars were installed using supports on the Aiglet ' s fuselage undersurfaces and the wing struts . Most sales were to Australia and New Zealand but seven were supplied to Aerial Spraying Contractors Ltd of Boston , Lincolnshire . These were flown out to Sudan in autumn 1950 and within a month had rid 17 , 000 acres of farmland of locust s and other insect pests . The agricultural task required operation at very low heights in conditions of extreme heat and inevitably resulted in the loss of many Aiglets in accidents . After withdrawal from crop - spraying use during the late 1950s and early 1960s , the survivors were purchased by aerial photo contractors , aero clubs and private owners . Many of these aircraft were fitted with an extra fuel tank beneath the fuselage , as shown in the adjacent photograph . In 2009 , several Aiglets remain in airworthy condition in Australia and New Zealand and three were active in the United Kingdom . Most Adventurers were sold to private pilot owners in Australia and New Zealand . Eleven Adventurers were still in service in Australia in 2009 and one in New Zealand ( see image ) . Six Adventurers were sold to the Royal New Zealand Air Force ( RNZAF ) and four to the Royal Rhodesian Air Force ( RRAF ) . Five examples were completed for agricultural use as the J / 5A Cropduster and served in Africa and Pakistan . Civil operators ( J / 5 Autocar ) . United Kingdom