| M.28 Mercury
|
|
| The Miles M.28 Mercury 6 at Wolverhampton (Pendeford) Airport in May 1951. This aircraft later went to Denmark.
|
| Role
|
Trainer & communications aircraft Type of aircraft
|
| Manufacturer
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Phillips & Powis
|
| Designer
|
Ray Bournon
|
| First flight
|
11 July 1941
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| Status
|
one remains operational
|
| Primary user
|
private pilot owners
|
| Number built
|
six
|
| Variants
|
Miles Messenger
|
The Miles M.28 Mercury was a British aircraft designed to meet the need for a training and communications plane during the Second World War. It was a single-engined monoplane of wooden construction with a twin tail and a tailwheel undercarriage with retractable main units.
Development
Originally, the M.28 had been planned as a replacement for the Whitney Straight and Monarch, but this was shelved when war broke out.
In 1941, the project was revived in response to a requirement for a training and communications aircraft. The design was produced as a private venture by Ray Bournon using Miles' normal wooden construction. The resulting machine introduced several features not found on trainers: retractable undercarriage and trailing edge flaps amongst others. In the communications role, the M.28 had four seats and a range of 500 miles (800 km).
The prototype first flew on 11 July 1941 [1] and proved easy to fly, with light controls and a short landing run. Owing to Miles' heavy commitment to war-production, however, only six aircraft were built, of slightly varying specifications, the last being the Mercury 6 which first flew in early 1946.[2] Examples of the type were operated in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Australia.
Specifications (M.28)
Data from Miles Aircraft since 1925[8]
General characteristics
- Crew: one
- Capacity: 2 or 3 passengers
- Length: 24 ft 0 in (7.32 m)
- Wingspan: 30 ft 8 in (9.35 m)
- Height: 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m)
- Wing area: 162 sq ft (15.1 m2)
- Aspect ratio: 5.8
- Airfoil: root: NACA 23018; tip: NACA 2412
- Empty weight: 1,658 lb (752 kg)
- Gross weight: 2,500 lb (1,134 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 24 imp gal (29 US gal; 110 L) fuel
- Powerplant: 1 × Blackburn Cirrus Major III 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted in-line piston engine, 150 hp (110 kW)
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 159 mph (256 km/h, 138 kn)
- Cruise speed: 152 mph (245 km/h, 132 kn)
- Stall speed: 46 mph (74 km/h, 40 kn) flaps down
- Range: 408 mi (657 km, 355 nmi)
- Endurance: 2 hours 45 minutes
- Rate of climb: 840 ft/min (4.3 m/s)
- Time to altitude: 10,000 ft (3,048 m) in 14 minutes
- Take-off distance to 50 ft (15 m): 1,344 ft (410 m)
- Landing distance from 50 ft (15 m): 942 ft (287 m)
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
