FS 2004
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Though instantly identifiable as of Auster lineage, the B4 Ambulance was an unorthodox design of pod and boom configuration, its square section cabin - a foot wider than the usual Auster fuselage, having a one piece swing out door at the rear to facilitate the loading and unloading od stretcher cases.
It had a four wheeled undercarriage and a trapezodial section boom supporting its tail surfaces. The aircraft was powered by a 180hp Blackburn Bombardier 702 and made its first flight on September 7 1951, as G-25-2, later becoming G-AMKL. It subseqently appeared as XA177 when being trialled by the A&AEE at Boscombe Down. Here a number of modifications were made to the airframe, including the fitting of a ventral fin which was introduced to smooth airflow when the B4 was flown with the cargo door removed for supply dropping or when accomodating extended loads.
Production aircraft would have had increased wing areas and a larger engine, but no orders were received and the airframe was dismantled at Rearsby in 1956 and later stored at Burton-in-the-Wolds, when it was believed to have been scrapped in the late 1960s.
Now available from www.classicbritishfiles.com from David Molyneaux, Brian Horsey and myself is the FS2004 Auster B4 Ambulance. I hope you all find the aeroplane as interesting to fly in the simulator as we found when researching, building and developing the version you see on your computer screens.
Happy Landings (with the occasional Auster 'bounce'!),
Martin
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