M 18 | |
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Role | Airliner |
National origin | Germany |
Manufacturer | Messerschmitt/BFW |
Designer | Willy Messerschmitt |
First flight | 1926 |
Primary user | Nordbayerische Verkehrsflug |
Number built | ca 24 |
The Messerschmitt M 18 (later also known as the BFW M 18) was an airliner produced in Germany in the late 1920s.[1][2]
Designed at the request of Theodor Croneiss to supply his new airline venture which was to become Nordbayerische Verkehrsflug (NOBA),[3] 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[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,[3] 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into DEVAG in 1931, a small number of a further improved version designated M 18d were ordered, but the type was soon superseded by the similar but larger Messerschmitt M 20.[2]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 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft, 494. Weights from [6],
General characteristics
Performance
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