Following the end of the Second World War in Europe, the British economy was in a terrible state. I have already alluded in previous diaries to the fact that Britain was effectively bankrupt, and that the Royal Air Force had to ask for the loan of Boeing B-29 Superfortress aircraft until their Canberra bomber was ready. Britain had spent every ounce of gold she possessed (a USN cruiser was sent to South Africa to collect it - from where it had been sent for safety - and take it to Fort Knox) to buy munitions of war. Every foreign asset that could be sold, was; this included the very profitable American subsidiary - Celanese Inc. - of a firm I later worked for.
The country was broke, the industries in tatters, the infrastructure worn out, and bomb damage was everywhere (67,000 civilian dead). The 'lender of last resort' turned out to be the U.S. Congress. Britain owed money for all the Lend-Lease assets that had been delivered, now the war was over, and a post-war loan to the new very left-wing Labour Government was made through gritted teeth. As an aside, Russia refused to pay for Lend-Lease, 'We paid in blood' said Stalin; Britain's last, and rather expensive payment, came on New Year's Eve, 2000!
Britain was trying to raise cash everywhere; the reason the P-82 Twin Mustang had a much lower performance than it should have, was because Rolls-Royce had raised their royalty fees for the Merlin substantially, and the P-82 reverted to the Allison V-12, instead (and that is why the superb Rolls-Royce Griffon was never licenced in the U.S.A.)
It worked the other way, in that Britain could no longer afford American engines to fit in their popular series of Auster aircraft - the majority of WW2 Air Observation Post Austers were fitted with Lycoming engines - so British De Havilland Gipsy Major engines, or the more powerful Blackburn Cirrus were substituted. The famous series of 'disposal sales' of former RAF and Royal Navy light aircraft at No. 5 Maintenance Unit, RAF Kemble, in 1945 and 1946 quickly ran through the stock of 'WW2 survivors', so Auster Aircraft Ltd were able to start selling their classic two or four seat aircraft again. These were of welded steel tube construction, with a wing of two wooden spars with fabricated metal ribs covered with Irish linen, and their famous 'bungee cord' sprung undercarriage. These included the J-1 Autocrat, many of which were modified as J-1N Alphas.
Sorry about the terrible Auster pun at the start of the post, but I could not resist this opportunity. G-AMMS isn’t an Auster J-1N Alpha, of course, but a much changed Aiglet Trainer. Built in 1951 by Auster Aircraft Ltd at Rearsby, it was retained by the company until 1954, being completed as a J5F, then modifed as a J5K (the only such aircraft) and finally as a J5L. The airframe was fitted, at various times, with a De Havilland Gipsy Major 1 of 130hp or a Blackburn Cirrus Major 3 of 155hp, and had the Auster Aiglet Trainer’s shortened wingspan (from 36 ft to 32 ft, to increase the aircraft’s roll rate) and strengthened structure to enable aerobatics to be performed. Ranald Porteus, Auster's Chief Test Pilot and a noted aerobatic pilot, flew this aircraft at shows and displays on numerous ocassions. Aiglet Trainers were popular abroad, and the Pakistan Air Force used them in quantity.
This aircraft was almost completely re-built in 1970. Mr Albert Codling, the newly retired Chief Inspector of Taylorcraft/Auster/Beagle Aircraft formed a partnership with a Mr Gus Morris, and the first job they undertook was G-AMMS. The aircraft was finished in a silver and black scheme as delivered to them, but it was stripped down and re-built as required, before being re-covered.
G-AMMS is now owned by Mr Richard Webber, and has reverted to being the unique Auster J5K, powered by a 155hp Blackburn Cirrus Major 3, driving a metal Fairey Reed propeller, and is seen here in a line-up of Austers at the Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Hullavington, Wiltshire. This is a fine example of a classic British type, the Auster.
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