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what is it?
The Auster AOP.9 was a British military air observation aircraft ("air observation post") produced by Auster Aircraft Limited to replace the Auster AOP.6.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11.1 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 72 years ago, in 1954.
- Top speed is 1.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 11.1 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1954
- introduced
- 1955
- number built
- 182
- role
- military observation aircraft
- makers
- Auster Aircraft Limited
- engines
- 1× Blackburn Cirrus Bombardier 203
- crew
- 3
- length
- 7.2 m
- wingspan
- 11.1 m
- height
- 2.7 m
- max take-off weight
- 953 kg
- top speed
- 204 km/h
- cruise speed
- 177 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 5,639 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q15817283, Wikipedia: Auster AOP.9 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.