In 1947 the New Zealand Government bought six Auster J-5 aircraft for use by the RNZAF. As part of the expected use of these aircraft was water-borne conversion training (replacing the Walrus aircraft previously used in this role) one set of floats was included in the purchase package.
These floats were fitted to at least Austers NZ1701 and NZ1705, and these aircraft were flown from the seaplane base at RNZAF Hobsonville when so equipped. Corrosion of the unprotected airframes was a major problem so when NZ1705 was sold into Australia in 1956 apparently the floats went there as well.
NZ1705 became VH-PMG in 1957, and later was flown as VH-ADS. Sometime in the 1960s Macquarie Air Services operated VH-ADS in Australia on these same floats.
Now the question is: What was the source of these floats – Edo? Shorts? or someone else. Also any idea of the dimensions of these floats would be helpful.
Auster J-5 NZ1701 having a wash-down at RNZAF Hobsonville, would be taken between 1948 and 1956
By: flyernzl - 19th June 2009 at 21:19
Thank you.
By: Arabella-Cox - 19th June 2009 at 08:56
Thanks for the response. A pity in a way but a good reason for not subjecting a good Auster to salt water!
I now have the information I was looking for. The Auster R2400 float as supplied to the RNZAF with the J/5s was 17 feet in length, possibly just a fraction under.
By: flyernzl - 18th June 2009 at 23:30
May I ask the reason for the original question? Is VH-ADS going to be “repatriated” to NZ or is another NZ Auster going to take to the water?
No such project unfortunately. Some-one is intending to scratch-build a model and wants to get the dimensions right.
Auster floatplanes in NZ are a bit of a lost cause. Apart from the minimal performance, saltwater corrosion is the problem. I do note that VH-ADS was flown in Australia from freshwater rivers and lakes. No such large rivers in NZ, just a few lakes.
Even the Catalina Club’s amphibian ZK-PBY only gets waterborne from lakes these days to eliminate this problem.
So I guess if we dimensioned the Queen Bee floats, that would be correct in this case?
By: Auster Fan - 15th June 2009 at 22:47
Another reference from Flight in 1945….
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1945/1945%20-%202211.html
By: wieesso - 15th June 2009 at 19:50
‘The pontoons are of Auster design and construction, though based on the lines of the well-known Edo float’
Flight, 2 March 1951
By: Arabella-Cox - 15th June 2009 at 14:24
Two sets of floats made by Auster Aircraft Ltd. were supplied to the RNZAF along with the six J/5s. I may well be wrong but I think these floats were designed by “Dickie” Bird Auster’s Chief Designer at the time of the order. I have only an approximate length for the floats but will see if I can dig out an accurate measurement.
May I ask the reason for the original question? Is VH-ADS going to be “repatriated” to NZ or is another NZ Auster going to take to the water?
By: flyernzl - 15th June 2009 at 11:38
Thanks for that info – I never knew that Austers made floats!
Any ideas on the length of the actual floats?
By: Rlangham - 13th June 2009 at 22:02
Probably Austers own – they had a history of making and fitting floats, the earliest were those fitted to a Mk V (taken off a dH Queen Bee) and tested during WW2, the idea was so that it could still be used in the AOP and liasion role in the Far East watery regions, but the end of the war meant there was no need for it.
Auster then made their own, presumably exactly or nearly the same as the Queen Bee ones, and were also fitted to other Austers, most famously the two used on the 1958 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (which were interchangeable with skiis and a wheeled undercarriage) and depicted in the Airfix kit
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June 13, 2009 at 9:55 pm