The Auster D.4 was a two-seat British light aircraft, a development of the

Auster Arrow The Auster J/2 Arrow is a 1940s British single-engined two-seat high-wing touring monoplane built by Auster Aircraft Limited at Rearsby, Leicestershire, England. History The Arrow was designed as a successor to the pre-war Taylorcraft Plus C ...

with a horizontally opposed

Lycoming engine Lycoming Engines is a major American manufacturer of aircraft engines. With a factory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Lycoming produces a line of horizontally opposed, air-cooled, four, six and eight-cylinder engines including the only FAA-certifi ...

, which originated from a Portuguese Air Force requirement for a liaison/training aircraft.Wenham 2015, p.42 Six were built by Auster Aircraft at their

Rearsby Rearsby is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. It is known for its Seven Arch Bridge, and is also home to the Preachers Stone. Location The parish has a population of about 1,000, being measured at ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, factory, of which five went to Portugal, and nine more were built under licence in Portugal by the Oficinas Gerais de Matereal Aeronautico

OGMA OGMA – Indústria Aeronáutica de Portugal S.A. is a Portuguese aerospace company focused on aircraft maintenance and manufacturing. History OGMA was founded as part of the reorganisation of the Portuguese Army's Aeronautic Service on June 2 ...

from sets of components built by Auster and shipped from Rearsby.Jackson 1974, pp. 186–188 The original contract was for 25 sets of components but this was reduced in favour of the same number of additional Auster D5/160 sets.

Operational history

Most D4 aircraft were operated in Portugal by government sponsored groups. One example is still active (2018) owned by a UK-based private pilot owner.

Operators

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Portuguese Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 1 July , equipment = , equipment_label ...

Specifications

References

* * * * {{Auster aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft 1960s British civil utility aircraft Auster aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1960