Register Review

Two new types are shown in this month’s New Allocations although both have a connection to existing types flying in Australia.

Don Brown’s Beach Hawk MRD is a ground-up rebuild of his Auster J/5G Cirrus Autocar also registered MRD. Don acquired the Auster during June 1982 but took it out of the air in 1995 as the fuselage was showing signs of corrosion. He decided to rebuild the wings and tail as per the original Auster but designed and built a completely new fuselage incorporating stronger wing, tail and undercarriage mounting points. Float attachment points have also been added although Don has no plans to fit floats at this stage. The new fuselage now accommodates two with a small cargo area behind the seats rather than four seats from the original Auster. The old Blackburn Cirrus Major III engine has been replaced with a 200hp (150kW) Lycoming driving a constant-speed propeller giving a 120kt cruise speed, about 30kt faster than the Auster. The new aircraft, registered in the experimental category, is finished in basic silver and Don reports that it’s a delight to fly.