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AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes

AUSTER WARBIRD FLIGHTS BOOK NOW! Fly in our genuine Korean War veteran: We are thrilled to introduce our Korean War veteran AOP 6 Auster aircraft. Now available for introductory flights and tail wheel conversions, experience the nostalgia and history of this iconic aircraft from our base at Fowlmere or Peterborough. Renowned for its slow flight capabilities, the Auster was crucial in spotting artillery impacts and directing fire on ground units during the Korean War. Our Auster, which saw active service in Korea in the 1950s, carries the legacy of bravery and service.

Please browse our photos showcasing this aircraft in action, including moments of it dropping special forces soldiers by parachute and on various operations with 1913 flights, accumulating over 9000 missions between them! if you’re eager to take flight in this historic aircraft, book your introductory flight now! Experience history firsthand from the cockpit of the AOP 6 Auster. Click below to reserve your spot.

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The Auster AOP-6 (Air Observation Post) was a British military aircraft primarily utilized for reconnaissance and artillery spotting during the Korean War. It was employed by various units, including the British Army’s Army Air Corps and the Royal Artillery. In the context of the Korean War, the Auster AOP-6 was used by British forces, particularly the 1913 Flight Royal Artillery. This flight and other units played a crucial role in providing close air support and artillery observation for ground forces during the conflict. The Auster AOP-6 was valued for its ability to fly slowly and low, allowing observers to spot targets and direct artillery fire accurately. Its role was vital in supporting ground operations and maintaining communication between ground units and higher command. Overall, the Auster AOP-6 proved to be an essential asset for the British military during the Korean War, contributing significantly to the effectiveness of ground operations in challenging terrain.


About our Korean War Veteran VF 516

 

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes Right: VF516 dropping a special forces soldier in Korea during the Korean War

1913 Flightโ€™s six pilots were from the Glider Pilot Regiment and flew Auster Mark 6โ€™s. In January 1952, they were also given a US Army Cessna L-19A โ€˜Bird Dogโ€™; in November of that year, they were given an Auster Mark 7.

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes The Cessna was acquired to ferry around VIPs, especially Major General James Cassels of the GOC Commonwealth Division, who is said to have sworn never to fly in an Auster again after he was involved in a crash landing. The 1913 Flight used the Cessna as their VIP transport for the rest of their time in Korea.

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes Throughout both Flightsโ€™ operations, UN air superiority was maintained. Despite this, both Flights suffered personnel losses as two pilots and two groundcrews were killed. Anti-aircraft fire and artillery shells were the cause of two of these casualties. Two further pilots and a rear observer were shot down and captured. The Commander of 1903 Flight, Major Wilfred Harris MC, was also killed on 2 June 1953, when a damaged American F-84 Thunderjet crashed onto the Fort George airstrip and hit his jeep. On several occasions, US aircraft crashed on the airfield, conveniently located for them to use as an emergency strip.

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes Nearly two years after the 1903 Flight began operations in Korea, a ceasefire was agreed between both sides. After this came into effect, the role of the 1903 Flight became focused on visual reconnaissance. Some sorties were carried out over the Demilitarised Zone and the Chinese lines. Both flights remained in Korea for another eighteen months. Over the following year, they were still carrying out photographic sorties, practising artillery shoots, and patrolling the Demilitarised Zone.

 

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes In January 1955, both flights returned to the UK. The role played by the two Flights was crucial to the campaignโ€™s success. The 1903 Flight carried out almost 3,000 Air OP sorties throughout the war, while the 1913 Flight carried out around 9,000. Their valuable contribution can be seen through the many gallantry awards received compared to their size. These include a Distinguished Service Order and several Distinguished Flying Crosses.

Exhibition created by Henry Whittington, Archive Assistant, 2021

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes VF516 was in the military silver scheme until April 2023, when she was repainted with her original camouflage and markings that she would have worn in Korea in the 1950s when she was operational. Im sure you would all agree she looks stunning in her new camouflage military colours. This actual Auster did see active service in Korea in the 1950s. We have photos of it Above showing it in action, dropping special forces soldiers by parachute, and other pictures of operations with 1913 flights that flew over 9000 missions between them. So if you want an introductory flight in this iconic aircraft, click and book above!

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes About the Beagle Terrier: The 1960s was a time of consolidation among the companies which formed the British aircraft industry. Pressed Steel Ltd merged with Auster Aircraft Company (Rearsby) and F.G. Miles Ltd. (Shoreham) in an attempt to form a viable manufacturer of light aircraft, known as BEAGLE (British Executive & General Aviation Limited). Basically, the attempt was doomed from the start. The two constituent companies had widely different design philosophies and histories. One turned out steel-tube/fabric-covered, high-wing aircraft, renowned for their slow-speed handling; the other built fast (then faster) racing and record-breaking wooden machines and had been thwarted in their attempt to build the worldโ€™s first supersonic aircraft (Miles M.52). The two former companies staggered on for a few years as separate divisions โ€“ Beagle-Miles and Beagle-Auster, but the writing was on the wall.

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes The Auster A.O.P. 6 had been the standard Air Observation Post aircraft of the British Army postwar, with the usual pattern of the Squadrons being constituted within the RAF โ€“ and manned by RAF servicing personnel โ€“ but having Army pilots.ย  VF571 was an A.O.P. 6, which saw service with 662 Squadron (3rd Regiment, Army Air Corps) and 651 Squadron (5th Regiment, AAC). 651 was originally 651 AOP Sqn and was based at Debden, Essex, then with 3rd Division, Army Aviation HQ at AAC Middle Wallop, Hampshire.

 

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes The A.O.P. 6 (and its trainer versions, the T.7 and T.10) was a very successful type, seeing service with the RCAF, Belgian Air Force, Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, South African Air Force, and the Arab Legion Air Force. The advent of the Auster A.O.P. 9 in 1955 meant that the A.O.P. 6 was surplus, and many were sold off. A number of these aircraft were acquired by Auster and reworked into two basic types: the Auster 6A Tugmaster โ€“ a glider tug and utility type, and the Auster 6B โ€“ designed as a luxury three-seater. After the Beagle merger, the Auster 6B became known as the Beagle A.61 Terrier 1. A batch of 18 of these had been produced, with the first conversion flying from Rearsby on 13th April 1961.

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes They were followed by the modified Terrier 2 (45 built), but it was too little, too late, and the Auster’s name faded from view. Sadly, the whole Beagle enterprise followed in 1969, and the British production of light aircraft (De Havilland had ceased making light โ€˜planes after the Chipmunk) virtually ceased.

Below is the log book from 1954 showing one day the pilot did 14 para drops with the US Special Forces plus other historical items courtesy of

 

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes

AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes ย AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes AUSTER AOP 6 - Fly in this Korean war veteran. Great Gift Idea! T6 Harvard Ltd Fly a Warbird Fly a Vintage plane Fly a Classic Wings Aeroplane Vintage Taylorcraft Auster WW2 Planes

1) I have scanned all my Father’s log books; shout if you’d like any other pages.
2) 1913 and 1903 Flights shared airfield A10 on the Imjin from Autumn 1951 to January 1955. 1913 (GPR) were at the Eastern end, nearest the ” Pintail ” bridge.
3)ย  The PDF file containing emails between myself, 1913 Flight pilot Ken Mattocks and an interested party in the US provides some interesting background about the unit to which the paras belong.
4)ย  Sadly, none of the 1913 Flight people appearing in the photos are alive today.
5) Half of the 1913 Flight remained behind in Korea when the 1903/1913 Flights returned in January 1955. They were titled The Commonwealth Division Light Liaison Section and returned to the UK in April 1956
This section consisted of 3 aircraft – the Cessna L19 Bird Dog 14754 loaned by the US, Auster 6 VF516 and Auster 7 WE605.This meant that 1913 Flight had been in theatre for four and a half years, from late 1951 to early 1956, well beyond the ceasefire date of Summer 1953.
6) One source indicates the Austers were sold off in Hong Kong for ยฃ20 each.
7) My Father’s handwriting appears on the back of some of the photos – it appears to have been censored, as was the case with several other photos from this time. I believe these were printed in Korea or Japan and then posted home to my Mother (Father’s fiance at the time), which would explain the censorship.
8) The photo of the para about to land, only feet off the ground (Korea Auster VF516 para drop 6.jpg)ย  is strange – he appears to have two canopies, both sets of rigging lines seeming to converge on him.
9) I’ve included a few documents from the Army Flying Museum’s collection that I amassed when doing the research for Guy Warner’s book “From Auster to Apache, the History of 656 Sqn” in 2012 – they give a nice amount of detail into the airframe history.
For more information, look at https://www.t6harvard.com/about-us/. Maybe take a look at our Battle of Britain experiences. Take a look at Wikipedia for more Auster AOP information.

 

Owner History:

VF516 Royal Air Force 24.10.46 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ Cumberland Aviation Services Ltd 04.12.63 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ John Patrick Taylor 31.10.67 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ Shobdon Aviation Company Ltd 13.01.70 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ Louis Erek Rotter 01.04.70 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ The Heron Flying Group 25.01.71 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ Michael Arthur Gale 26.05.76 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ Robert Basil Humphries 14.02.78 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ Museum of Army Flying 20.07.84 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ Charles Anthony Bailey 10.04.89 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ Robert Clive Burden 25.07.90 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ Brinley Andrews 24.08.00 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ Folland Aircraft Ltd 04.08.16 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ Samuel Woodgate 20.02.19 Left Fleet
G-ASMZ ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  The Auster AOP-6 Group

 

Links to other sites:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234952014-auster-aop-67-in-korea/

https://ingeniumcanada.org/aviation/artifact/auster-aop-6

Auster AOP.6

https://bcam.net/auster-aop6/

https://www.t6harvard.com/miscellaneous/t6-harvard-aviation-blog-warbird-spitfire-hurricane-messerschmitt/

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