| M-18 Mite | |
|---|---|
| Role | personal use aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Mooney Aircraft Company |
| Designer | Al Mooney |
| First flight | 1947 |
| Introduction | 1947 |
| Produced | 1947-54[1][2] |
| Number built | 283 |
| Unit cost | US$2965 (price new in 1947)[2] |
| Variants | Mooney M20 |
The Mooney M-18 "Mite" is a low-wing, single-place monoplane with retractable, tricycle landing gear.[2][1]
The Mite was designed by Al Mooney and was intended as a personal airplane marketed to fighter pilots returning from World War II.[1]
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The M-18 design goal was extremely low operating costs.[1] The Mite is constructed mainly of fabric-covered wood construction, with a single spruce and plywood "D" wing spar. The wing aft of the spar was fabric covered.[2]
The airfoil selected for the design was the NACA 64A215.[3] The M-18 represented the first time that a NACA airfoil had been used on a civil aircraft after World War II.[1]
The aircraft featured a unique "safe-trim" system. This mechanical device linked the wing flaps to the tail trim system and automatically set the trim correctly for most flight attitudes.[2]
The Mooney Aircraft Corporation built a total of 283 Mites in Wichita, Kansas, and Kerrville, Texas, between 1947 and 1955. The first few were powered by modified 25 hp Crosley automobile engines but production shifted to the M-18L powered by the four cylinder, 65 hp Lycoming O-145 powerplant and finally the M-18C with the Continental C-65 aircraft engine.[2]
The market for the single seat M-18 was limited and so Mooney developed the four place M-20 to appeal to aircraft owners with families.[1]
Factory production of the Mite ended in 1954.[1][2]
As of November 2010, 168 Mites were still registered in the United States and three in Canada.[4][5]
Data from A Field Guide to Airplanes - Second Edition[1], Plane and Pilot: 1978 Aircraft Directory[2] & The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage[3]
General characteristics
Performance
Avionics
none installed at the factory
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