Taylorcraft Auster 1 - RAF Museum, Hendon, London, UK
N 51° 35.845 W 000° 14.263
30U E 691311 N 5719878
This Taylorcraft Auster 1 is located in the "Historic Hangars" at the RAF Museum in Hendon, London. The aircraft dates from 1942.
Waymark Code: WMNH9N
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/17/2015
Views: 2
The RAF Museum is open daily from 10am to 6pm with admission being free. Car parking is available but there is a charge. The nearest underground station is Colindale about a 10-15 minute walk away or a number 303 bus passes both the tube station and museum. The co-ordinates posted are for the entrance to the "Milestones of Flight" hall/exhibition entrance.
The RAF Museum's website tells us about the Taylorcraft Auster 1:
This design originated with a pre-war American light cabin monoplane of 1938 built in England under licence. Successful trials with impressed civilian Taylorcraft Plus D aircraft by the Army for artillery spotting duties led to the introduction of the first fully militarised Taylorcraft, the unarmed two-seat Auster I.
One hundred were built, entering service with No 654 Squadron in August 1942 as the first fixed wing aircraft in British Army service and along with the succeeding Auster marks III, IV and V they served in with the Desert Air Force in North Africa, and in Sicily, Italy, and with the 2nd Tactical Air Force from Normandy to Germany in 1944-45, flown by British Army officers trained by the RAF. The survivors were sold out of front-line service by 1946, though the Fleet Air Arm operated a few in second-line units.
A history of this aircraft can be seen here.