Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
By spackrackman
#1778062
Hi all,
I am looking at an old Auster V with the o-290 engine to possibly buy. I want to know how capable they are? I operate out of a small farm strip and wondered how quick they get off the ground and what they cruise at. Could they be compared to a cub? People seem to say they are mushy to fly. Just wanted more information.
Thanks
User avatar
By Trent772
#1778072
You can"t polish a turd...... You may be able to roll it in glitter though.

Move on, get a Champ, Cub or anything other than an Auster.

Heavy, over engineered, just...... No.

Though - Opinions vary :lol:
Bobcro, Flyin'Dutch' liked this
User avatar
By Trent772
#1778076
:mrgreen:

I have no axe to grind, but seriously, there are better aeroplanes out there. The British aeroplane industry never really excelled. An investment in an aeroplane is driven by many things, head, heart, lust etc.

I sit and look at compromises all the time.

I fly an RV7, I want a Champ :wink:

I fly a Champ and I want a Christen Eagle :thumright:

What is the ultimate compromise aeroplane ?

Either a KCAB Citabria or a Decathlon
Flyingfemme liked this
User avatar
By Rob L
#1778078
Hello spackrackman, and welcome to the Flyer Forum :thumleft: . What's your flying experience?

Trent772 's opinion is indeed blunt, but correct.
If you want a lumbering, expensive, overweight taildragger, get an Auster. Better spend your money on a Cub or Chief or Champ or Luscombe...etc etc. Just my opinion.

For the avoidance of doubt, I don't know Trent772 from adam.

Rob
Trent772 liked this
User avatar
By MichaelP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1778090
I really like Super Cubs, but if I do not have the premium money to buy one I would take an Auster Mark V instead.
Strange as it may seem that after so many hours in Super Cubs and the like, I actually would prefer the Auster Mk V.

The Mark V can carry three people, the Super Cub can’t legally.
The doors are removable in the MkV and there’s a back seat to put your camera equipment on.

Takeoff performance for the Mk V is very different to many other Austers, it has a lot of get up and go and is almost equal to the Super Cub.
Slow flight in the Auster is better...
I was once so annoyed by the Cessnas doing huge circuits I stopped and sat over the M23 while they went around the circuit, and had to go around because the Auster was still on final :twisted:

I used to soar the MkV on the ridge between Reigate Hill and Boxhill.

I had a lot of fun to the Auster MkV :D

But make sure you get the silencers, the O 290 is noisy without.
Use 24 volts ground power to start the engine when hot, it’s a 12 volt starter but you need more spin. EFG at Biggin used to do this.
The O 290 GPU did not have an impulse mag.

The MkV is now a permit aeroplane, so one should investigate other engine options such as an O 320 perhaps?

I must say that the Auster Mk V always brought a grin to my face, I had more fun in it than I ever had in a Cub.
ENPC liked this
User avatar
By Genghis the Engineer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1778093
Lovely aeroplane, basic aerobatic capability, built like a brick outhouse, very noisy cockpit- wear an ANR headset. Well co-ordinated, if somewhat heavy handling. Take care to fly EXACTLY the spin recovery in the handbook.

It has an undeserved reputation for being very hard to land - which in my opinion is because everybody tries to land it too fast. Fly it to the numbers in a set of 1950s military pilot notes, don't get worried about the very heavy controls at low speed.

A Lycoming sounds a big improvement on the geriatric Gypsy Major that's been in front of the majority of my time on type: which is unreliable, thirsty and expensive to run.

A lot of old world charm about it. I wouldn't mind owning a Lycoming engined Auster V. Better ergonomics than any cub variant, better built than any Aeronca I've ever flown. Doesn't handle as well as a Condor or a Chipmunk and burns a lot more fuel than the former on the other hand.

Performance? Uninspiring, but good enough to do most things your average club pilot wants to do. Not a brilliant short field machine, but with practice not an embarrassment. These are the sea level numbers I have for a Gypsy Major engined J5L, which is what most of my time is in:-

Short field TODR: 610m / 2,000ft
LDR: 344m / 1,130ft
Climb rate: 620 fpm
Glide Performance: 9:1, 1.5nm / 1,000ft
Full throttle level flight, 99kts.

I'd have thought an 0-290 would give you similar performance.

G
#1778110
I think I know the one you may be looking at if it is Midlands based.
If so it is a nice well looked after old aeroplane but very expensive....
Good luck in trying to negotiate it down, quite a few others have tried before you!
User avatar
By Wide-Body
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1778124
Slight thread hijack. I know of an Archer (5j4) and an Autocrat (5ji). Both are Cirrus engined and one with a Vintech overhauled spare. Both are for sale. I really know nothing about the types other than the Cirrus is rare. What are folks thoughts on the type. If bought cheaply enough are they worth doing a Lycoming conversion?
User avatar
By foxmoth
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1778130
Short field TODR: 610m / 2,000ft


That seems a bit much for an Auster, Google gives a ground run under 100'! I was never a fan of the Austers handling but in my experience they had a decent short field performance.
User avatar
By MichaelP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1778138
These are the sea level numbers I have for a Gypsy Major engined J5L, which is what most of my time is in:-


The MkV is much lighter than other Austers and has a lot more get up and go.
It is a very very good strip machine.

There were even comments at White Waltham yesterday when a visiting MkV was off and climbing after a very short takeoff.

A chap had two airframes deposited in the back of the hangar where I operated the Condor Club.
One was a Tiger Moth... But the other was a MkV Auster, and that was an aeroplane I could use, and so I leased it and put its wings back on.
It proved to be a brilliant aeroplane.
People would come to Redhill to see the oldest Tiger Moth registration still flying... They’d ignore the innocent blue and white Auster that was at one time shot at by the Germans.
Perhaps some commenters here are Germans?
By Highland Park
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1778139
Wide-Body wrote:Slight thread hijack. I know of an Archer (5j4) and an Autocrat (5ji). Both are Cirrus engined and one with a Vintech overhauled spare. Both are for sale. I really know nothing about the types other than the Cirrus is rare. What are folks thoughts on the type. If bought cheaply enough are they worth doing a Lycoming conversion?

The J/4 Archer was/is a Cirrus - engined version of the J/2 Arrow, which has a 75hp Continental, both pretty rare machines.

In answer to a point earlier, there’s certainly a precedent for replacing the O-290 with an O-320:
http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co. ... BEAGLE.pdf

I don’t know whether the aircraft under consideration is an ex-military Auster V, but they produced a separate, purely civilian version in 1956/7 as the Auster 5 Alpha - same engine but without the extended cockpit glazing that the ex-military versions have.

Ian
#1778176
Shoestring Flyer wrote:I think I know the one you may be looking at if it is Midlands based.
If so it is a nice well looked after old aeroplane but very expensive....
Good luck in trying to negotiate it down, quite a few others have tried before you!


Hahha, yes its at my airfield I work at. I have had a good look over it and it needs some love. Its been owned by the same guy for 45 years and a few things have been over looked. I ran it up a few days ago and it started ok. A sticky exhaust valve. I have not tried to bargin him down as I know I will get an ear bashing so currently just left it back where I found it.
Shoestring Flyer liked this