In 1948 the RCAF first obtained the Auster Mk VI, an improved, post-war model with a DeHavilland Gypsy Major engine, more fuel capacity and a longer undercarriage. The first of the Auster VI’s served with 444 (AOP) Squadron at the Joint Training School (JTS), Rivers, Manitoba. The RCAF retired the last of their Austers in 1958.

After taking the Auster AOP 6 and 7 from service, Beagle did buy them and refurbished them to civil use. They were sold to private customers as the A.61 Terrier.

The Beagle Terrier was the name given to the modified Auster AOP (Air Observation Post) 6, after the Auster Aircraft Company was sold. The Auster Aircraft Company purchased a large number of former British Army Auster aircraft during the late 1950s. These were Auster AOP.6, T.7 and T.10 aircraft which were updated and modified with a de Havilland Gipsy Major 10-1-1 engine.

The AOP.6 and AOP.6A were modified AOP.5 with a strengthened rear fuselage, external flaps, increased MTOW, and 145 hp Gipsy Major 7. The prototype AOP.6 appeared in 1945 and 296 were supplied to the RAF, some of these being transferred to the Belgian Air Force. Others were supplied to the RCAF and SAAF, and a two-seat trainer version, the Auster T.7, was converted to full AOP standards in 1947. Initial production of the AOP.6 was completed in 1949, but further production was undertaken in 1952.

Initially two versions were offered for sale in the civilian market from 1960:

Auster 6A Tugmaster – a utility and glider towing aircraft

Auster 6B – a three-seat luxury version. When the company became part of Beagle Aircraft in 1960, the Auster 6B was renamed the Beagle A.61 Terrier 1.

Eighteen Terrier 1s conversions were built. The first conversion flew 13 April 1961 from Rearsby.

In 1962 the Beagle A.61 Terrier 2 was introduced with a greater span tailplane, wheel spats and a metal propeller. First flight of a Terrier Series 2 was made on 25 April 1962. The type is a three-seat touring and training monoplane. Sixty of these were sold by the beginning of March 1964. The conversions includes the complete overhaul of the airframe and engine, the provision of new tail surfaces and ailerons, and a sound-proofed three-seat cabin trimmed and upholstered. As a glider tug, the Terrier can tow an average two-seater to 2000 ft in 6 min 30 sec.

Beagle Terrier II Brochure

Forty-Five Terrier 2s conversions were completed at Rearsby. A small number of airframes were converted subsequently to this standard by other companies.

One Terrier 3 powered by a 160 hp Lycoming O-320-B2B engine was essentially complete at Rearsby when Terrier production was stopped in 1966. In 1967, an incomplete Terrier 2 was modified to this standard by British European Airways engineering apprentices and registered G-AVYK.

The Terrier was not an economic success for the manufacturer as it was found that more man-hours were spent on rebuilding each aircraft after its military use than were spent in building the new aircraft for the Army. Examples of the type were purchased by owners in the United Kingdom, Eire, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden. 23 Terriers were registered in the UK in 2013.

Of a total of 380 of AOP6 built, less that 100 were converted to Terriers between 1946 and 1953.

The 6A Tugmaster and Terrier 1 were also rebuilt Auster Mk 6, but to lower standards.

Later adopted as the Auster T.7

The AOP.6 was developed from the Mk 5 with a modified fuselage and increased all-up weight and powered by a Gipsy Major 7 engine. Equipped with all-metal auxiliary aerofoil flaps below and behind trailing edge, and wings strengthened to take two 52.25 litre fuel tanks, the pilot and observer seated in tandem. Lengthened landing gear struts allowed a larger airscrew. Production completed in 1949. The T.7 was a two-seat trainer which could be quickly converted to full AOP standard. Equipped with side-by-side seating with dual controls, a third seat could be fitted.

Gallery

AOP.6
Engine: de Havilland Gipsy Major VII, 145 hp
Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in
Wing area: 184 sq.ft
Length: 23 ft 9 in
Height: 8 ft 4.5 in
Empty weight: 1413 lb
Loaded weight: 2160 lb
Max speed: 124 mph at 1000 ft
Cruise: 108 mph
ROC: 810 fpm
Service ceiling: 14,000 ft
Range: 315 mi

Auster Beagle Aircraft Co. Auster 6 / A.O.P.6
Engine: Gipsy Major 7G, 145 hp
Wing Span: 36ft (10.97m)
Length: 23ft 9in (7.24m)
Height: 8ft 5in (2.55m)
Speed: 122mph (196km/h)

T.7
Engine: de Havilland Gipsy Major 130hp.
Cruise speed: 114 mph.

T.7c
Engine: de Havilland Gipsy Major VII, 145 hp.

Auster 6A Tugmaster

A.61 Terrier
60 converted from military AOP.6

A.61 Terrier 2
Engine: 1 x DH Gypsy Major 10, 145 hp / 107kW
Take-off weight: 1090 kg / 2400 lb
Empty weight: 727 kg / 1600 lb
Wingspan: 11.0 m / 36 ft 1 in
Length: 7.1 m / 23 ft 4 in
Height: 2.7 m / 8 ft 10 in
Wing area: 17.1 sq.m / 184.06 sq ft
Max. speed: 191 km/h / 119 mph
Cruise speed: 172 km/h / 107 mph
Ceiling: 3500 m / 11500 ft
Rate of climb: 530 ft/min (2.7 m/s)
Range: 450 km / 280 miles
Seats: 3

The Auster AOP.9 was designed as a successor to the Auster AOP.6. The AOP.9 was a completely new aircraft and not a development of a civil type. Apart from plastic tips and a fabric covering aft of the main spar, the wings are all-metal and are built round a stiff leading-edge torsion box. The split flaps have a hydraulic assist. Drooping ailerons assist with short landings and take-offs. One of its main features is the Dowty liquid spring undercarriage with large diameter tyres, capable of withstanding a vertical rate of descent of 9 ft/sec and allowing operation from virtually any type of landing surface.

It was a braced high-wing single engined monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage. The AOP.9 was a new design, the wing and tail metal-skinned, but the fuselage and ailerons were fabric-covered. The fin and rudder assembly were more angular in the new aircraft with a noticeable dorsal fillet. A combination of the 180 hp (134 kW) Blackburn Cirrus Bombardier engine, larger wings and large flaps gave it an improved take-off and landing performance compared with the AOP.6. It could operate from ploughed fields and muddy surfaces using low pressure tyres and strengthened undercarriage.

On the insistence of the British Army the fuselage is welded steel and fabric covered. A third seat can be fitted. A unique feature is the rear cockpit floor, designed to allow a complete and rapid change of role. With the removal of six bolts the floor may be lowered out of the aircraft and a new floor, complete with equipment, can be substituted in a few minutes.

The cabin held three seats, pilot and passenger side-by-side and the observer behind, facing either forwards or rearwards. The aircraft was also designed to be convertible into a two-seat light transport with an interchangeable rear floor. In this configuration the observer sat alongside the pilot.

The prototype WZ662, which was also the first production machine, first flew 19 March 1954 with a 180 hp / 134kW Blackburn Cirrus Bombardier 203 (military version of 702) engine. Auster Aircraft allotted its model designation B5 to the AOP.9 design.

Deliveries started to the Royal Air Force in February 1955, replacing AOP.6s in the regular AOP squadrons, the auxiliary squadrons disbanding in March 1957 before receiving AOP.9s. Until the formation of the Army Air Corps (AAC) in September 1957, Army personnel flew RAF aircraft based in RAF squadrons.

The aircraft were in action with No. 656 Squadron from September 1955, flying an average of 1,200 sorties per month. By the end of Operation Firedog in Malaya on 31 July 1960, 656 Squadron’s AOP.6 and AOP.9s had carried out 143,000 sorties.

Over 6 million leaflets were dropped by Austers of no.656 Sqn RAF dring the Malayan conflict.

The AOP.9s were involved in several of Britain’s other end of Empire conflicts; 653 Squadron AAC used them in Aden in the early 1960s, flying from Falaise, Little Aden. They stayed in service until 1966 and were the last fixed wing AOP aircraft used by the AAC, though their light transport role was taken over by Beavers.

AOP.9s were supplied to the Indian Air Force and the South African Air Force operated its AOP.9s from 1957 to 1967.

The Army Historic Aircraft Flight maintain an AOP.9 in flying condition at Middle Wallop.

A total of 182 were built and in the 1970s, 19 AOP.9s joined the UK civil register, and in 2008 14 remained, though only about three of these had a current certificate of airworthiness.

A number of army surplus aircraft were bought by Captain Mike Somerton-Rayner in 1967. One was converted as an Auster 9M with a 180 hp (134 kW) Avco Lycoming O-360-A1D piston engine. The 9M first flew on 4 January 1968, and gained a Certificate of Airworthiness on 30 April 1968. The aircraft was still airworthy in 2009.

Operators
Military operators

Hong Kong
Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force about 4 ex-British AAC aircraft
various ACC AOP and Independent Flights stationed in Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s

India – About 35 aircraft
Indian Air Force
Indian Army

South African Air Force about 2 aircraft

United Kingdom – about 145 aircraft

• Army Air Corps
  653 Squadron
  656 Squadron
  Advanced Fixed Wing Flight
  Army Flights: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21.
  Various Army Regiments
• Royal Air Force
  651 Squadron
  652 Squadron (1956–1957)
  656 Squadron (1955–1957)
  657 Squadron
  Light Liaison Flight, South Korea
  Christmas Island Flight, 160 Wing
  1900 Flight (Hong Kong)
  38 Group Communications Flight Upavon
  Light Aircraft School Middle Wallop

Gallery

AOP 9
Engine: Blackburn Bombardier 203, 173 hp (129 kw)
Span: 36 ft 5 in / 11.10 m
Wing area: 197.6 ft² / 18.36 m²
Length: 23 ft 8.5 in / 7.24 m
Height: 8 ft 11 in / 2.72 m
Empty weight: 1,460 lb / 663 kg
Max. takeoff weight: 2,330 lb / 1,057 kg
Max speed: 127 mph / 204 km/h
Cruise speed: 110 mph / 178 km/h
Range: 242 miles / 389 km
Service ceiling: 18,500 ft (5640 m)
Rate of climb: 920 ft/min / 280 m/min
Crew: 2/3