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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0629.PDF
FLIGHT, 6 May 1960 629 \ AUSTER D.4 in the Air . By ALASTAIR PUGH No 118 OF THE SERIES 'Flight" photoflroph* AFFTER a couple of rounds of 'In die Airs" tackled inconjunction with colleague Mark Lambert, for a solopel tut ma lice I was able to fly the prototype Lycoming-powered Auster D.4. Latest of the Auster line, this first D.4 heralds a whole series of Lycoming-engined aeroplanes. TheD.4 is a two-seater, the D.5 seats three and the D.6 four, but there is a high degree of interchangeability among them. Thereis, for example, a choice of three engines (108 h.p. O-235, 160 hup. O-320 or 180 h.p. O-360 Lycomings) and of two sets of main-planes, either of 32ft or 36ft span. Permuting and combining, 11 practical variations can be made, from a very crisp two-seaterwith short wings and 180 h.p. in the nose, to a four-seater with generous load-carrying abilities in hot climate conditions. Givena variable pitch propeller (one of the many optional extras), spats and cuffs around the struts, die two-seater should cruise at notfar short of 150 m.pii. At a price of under £4,000, Auster remark that this is selling performance probably more cheaply than inany other production aeroplane anywhere in die world. One D.4 and a D.5 have flown so far, and another half-dozenor so are taking shape on the line at Rearsby. The 108 h.p. Lycoming-powered D.4 that I flew made its debut at Goodwoodon Easter Monday and is representative of production models except in respect of its wings and ailerons, which are of die earlystandard (JIN for example). All the D series—long and short span—are to have wings with metal spars and the greatly improvedAiglet-type ailerons with extended aerodynamic balance. Apart from diis, the remainder of the airframe is the well-tried mixtureas before. But there is a steerable tailwheel, strut roots are cuffed and the interior—although simple—is soundproofed, carpeted andheadlined and brought a bit nearer to die 1960 standards of die Auster's more exotic competitors. My first impressions on clambering in were that, while I wasat home in familiar surroundings this was a more pleasant cockpit than diat of any Auster I had previously flown. Aldiough thebench-type seat is not adjustable, pedal reach suited my particular height very well and controls, as they say, "fell to hand." Poweris varied by a push-pull knob with a grub screw damper, and this is supplemented by a carburettor heat adjustment and a mixture control with idle cut-off. Fuel from the 16gal starboardwing tank (a port tank is optional) is selected by a guarded lever in the floor and checked by a direct-reading gauge in die wingroot; to start the engine it is simply a matter of flicking up the master and magneto switches and pressing the button. TheLycoming catches easily and settles down right away. Taxying is no different dian with other Austers, except thatlight weight and soft bungees improve the ride; soundproofing over the bungee box also makes it a good deal quieter and the purrof the Lycoming is a positive joy. Forward view is very little impaired by the increased widdi of the neatly tailored nose cowl,and the heel brakes and steerable tailwheel can be used to such advantage that I found I could reverse direction completely in aradius of under 10ft. With one pilot and about nine gal of fuel die D.4 swung littleor not at all, unstuck smoothly and easily at about 40 m.p.h. and gained airspace very quickly. I timed the passage of the thousandfeet between 500ft and 1,500ft—climbing at the recommended 70 m.p.h.—at lmin 15sec, which agrees rather well with the800ft/min measured by Auster's chief test pilot, Ranald Porteus, with the D.4 in die same condition.Visibility from the left-hand front seat varies from good to rather poor. Forward and downwards it is completely satisfactory,notwithstanding the slightly longer nose of the Lycoming cowling. TTiis, incidentaDy, is identical for all three engines; only the enginebearers for die 180 h.p. six-cylinder make the installation different. Although the roof is no longer completely glazed, view throughthe overhead and rear quarter lights remains good, though die blanking of the wing root tends to encourage well-banked turns.As soon as I had levelled off, I closed the throttle completely and waited, ailerons gently waggling, for the stall. Lateral controlwas there right down to 36 m.p.h. i.a.s., at which speed right wing and nose dropped away with no detectable warning. Recover-ing in 100ft, I tried again with take-off (22°) and then landing (50°) flap; there was no more warning than before but the stallwas equally innocuous. I recorded indicated speeds of 32 and 27 m.p.h. under these conditions and when, nose very high, I gotthe D.4 to the point of stall under full power, die needle was Unmistakably Auster, the D.4 cockpit is more effectively silenced than those earlier models. Left, the aircraft's new shape includes limited roof windows and a dorsal fin. The fin graces the 10S h.p. machine in the interest of interchangeability, but it also adds to directional stability. Controls are standard except for Aiglet-type ailerons
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