| M.3 Falcon | |
|---|---|
| Miles M.3A Falcon Major G-AEEG at Old Warden | |
| Role | Cabin monoplane |
| Manufacturer | Miles Aircraft Limited |
| Designer | Frederick George Miles |
| First flight | 1934 |
| Number built | 36 |
| Variants | Miles M.4 Merlin |
The Miles M.3 Falcon is a 1930s British three/four-seat cabin monoplane designed by Miles Aircraft Limited.[1]
Contents |
The M.3 Falcon was a clean, single engined low-wing monoplane with trousered main undercarriage and fixed tail-wheel, designed in 1934. It was structurally similar to the earlier Miles M.2F Hawk Major family, but had side-by-side seating for two behind the pilot in a glazed cockpit. It was powered by a 130 hp (97 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major piston engine. The prototype, G-ACTM, built by Philips and Powis first flew at Woodley Aerodrome on 12 October 1934.
The first production aircraft (designated M.3A Falcon Major) was flown in January 1935. It had a wider fuselage than the prototype to improve passenger comfort and revised glazing with a forward sloping windscreen. The M.3A was somewhat underpowered, so the (M.3B Falcon Six) and later versions were fitted with a 200 hp (150 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Six engine.
The M.3C Falcon Six was a four seater with dual controls. The M.3D was strengthened to allow an 11% increase in all up weight compared with the M.3B. The final versions were the M.3E and M.3F.
An enlarged five-seat version was developed as the M.4 Merlin.
The prototype was fitted with extra fuel tanks and entered into the MacRobertson Race from England to Australia in October 1934. It took 27 days to reach Darwin, but returned in a record time of 7 days 19 hours 15 minutes, including one stage of 1,800 miles (2,900 km) non-stop from Jodhpur to Basra.
Twenty-nine M.3As and M.3Bs were delivered during 1935-6 to private owners, clubs and commercial operators in Britain and abroad.
The M.3B was entered into the 1935 King's Cup Race and won with a speed of 176.28 mph (283.70 km/h). In 1936 the same aircraft reduced the U.K to Cape record to 3 days 17 hours and 37 minutes.
Pre war, three Falcon Sixes appeared in RAF garb at the Royal Aircraft Establishment for trials of a variety of wings and aerodynamic innovations. At the outbreak of the war three aircraft remained civilian as communications aircraft with various companies but, like so many civil aircraft ten others were impressed into service by the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force and the Swedish air force. Six Falcons survived the war.
Production numbers from [2]
References 1 and 2 give detailed histories of the typically complicated lives of these small aeroplanes.
G-AEEG, a privately-owned M.3A based at Old Warden flies regularly. It spent much of its life in Sweden as SE-AFW. In Australia M.3A VH-AAT was reported still airworthy in 2000. In Spain an M.3C registered EC-ACB is also active. This aircraft participated in the Spanish Civil War.
Data from British Civil Aircraft 1919–1972: Volume III[4]
General characteristics
Performance
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