Auster - Production Histories

Recently, Ian Macdonald kindly lent me his copy of the Auster book Vol 2 and I’ve been checking the Canadian data as, I understand, I was the primary supplier of these data. I’ve divided the results into military use and civil use and this email covers the civil use. My comments are attached; I hope the format is self-evident.



The potted histories I submitted had been compiled a number of years previously, and, although substantially correct, did need to be checked in light of changing circumstances and a better understanding of the data. As a result, the attachment is somewhat longer than anticipated.



The bulk of the changes revolve around an understanding of the RCAF/Crown Assets Disposal Corp relationship. With the earlier RCAF/War Assets Corp relationship, aircraft were declared surplus and struck off on transfer from the RCAF to WAC for onward sale or disposal. With the RCAF/CADC, the aircraft were declared surplus, sold by the CADC (if possible) and on completion of the sale was struck off by the RCAF.



Another set of changes are updates to the “unidentified party”. At the time I created these histories, there was a valid reason for not disclosing the names of certain individuals. Now, many years later, I do not consider those reasons valid.



Another change concern the use of “CofA”. I don’t know, now, how these crept into the listing, but the ex-Canadian military Austers were not eligible for a CofA and, instead, were issued Flight permits (FP) – except for the two that were converted to A.61 Terrier standard.



The remaining changes include the inevitable typos, plus additional data.



Feedback would be appreciated.



Terry Judge (3598)