| M 18 | |
|---|---|
| An Armstrong-Siddeley Lynx-powered M-18d of Ad Astra Aero in Switzerland | |
| Role | Airliner |
| National origin | Germany |
| Manufacturer | Messerschmitt / Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) |
| Designer | Willy Messerschmitt |
| First flight | 1926 |
| Primary user | Nordbayerische Verkehrsflug |
| Number built | ca 24 |
The Bayerische Flugzeugwerke M 18 (BFW M 18), (later known as Messerschmitt M 18) was an airliner, produced in Germany in the late 1920s.
Designed at the request of Theodor Croneiss to supply his new airline venture which was to become Nordbayerische Verkehrsflug (NOBA),[1] it was a conventional high-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed tailskid undercarriage. The prototype was built of wood, although production examples would have a metal structure.[2] The design was praised in its day for the cleanness of its aerodynamics, lightness of construction, and economy of operation[3][4]
The first M 18 to enter service with NOBA was provided by Messerschmitt in exchange for a 49% share of the new company, and on 26 July it began commercial flights.[5] NOBA's early successes enabled the company to place orders for additional examples of an improved model, the M 18b. It would eventually purchase twelve of these,[1] but manufacturing them would exceed the capacity of Messerschmitt's own small firm, leading to a merger with Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) in 1927. Following NOBA's reorganisation into DEVAG in 1931, a small number of a further-improved version, designated M 18d, were ordered, but the type was soon superseded by the similar but larger Messerschmitt M 20.[2]
Data from Messerschmitt: an aircraft album,[6] Flugzeug-Typenbuch 1936[7]
General characteristics
Performance
