| DSA-1 Miniplane | |
|---|---|
| Role | Sport biplane |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | homebuilt |
| Designer | Frank W. Smith[1] |
| First flight | 29 October 1956[2] |
| Number built | 350 sets of plans sold by 1977[1] |
The Smith DSA-1 Miniplane ("Darn Small Aeroplane",[1][3] "Darned Small Airplane",[2][4], or "Damn Small Airplane"[5]) is a single-seat, single-engine sport aircraft designed in the United States in the 1950s and marketed for home building.[6]
The Miniplane is a conventional single-bay biplane with staggered wings of unequal span braced with N-struts and wires.[1][7] The Miniplane design has fixed undercarriage with a steerable tailwheel[7] and although designed with an open cockpit, [1][4][7] many have been fitted with canopies. The fuselage and the tail fin are of a conventional truss design constructed of welded steel tube and covered in fabric,[1][2][7][8] and the wing spars and ribs are made from spruce and also fabric-covered.[1][2][7][8] A variant has been built with an all-metal wing construction.[9]
Engines used by builders are generally the 65-hp (48-kW) Continental A65, 85-hp (63-kW) Continental C85 or the Lycoming O-235 of 100 hp to 125 hp (75 kW to 93 kW).[8]
Designer Frank Smith died of a heart attack shortly after completing the prototype.[4] His wife, Dorothy, and son, Donald continued to market the plans into the 1970s[1][2][4] and Donald worked on a two-seat version,[4] the Miniplane +1.[1]
In 2010, Sky Classic Aircraft of Des Moines, Iowa markets plans for an updated version of the Miniplane, the Miniplane 2000.[10] The Miniplane 2000 incorporates several modifications to the original design, including a slightly longer and wider fuselage to accommodate larger pilots,[10] adding bracing struts to reinforce the horizontal stabilizer,[10] and changing the airfoil section[11] and angles of incidence of the wings.[10]
In August 1959, Tom Messick flew a Miniplane on a 4,200-mile (6,700-km) round trip to attend the EAA Fly-in at Rockford, Illinois and was awarded a trophy for flying the longest distance to the event.[2]
The prototype DSA-1 is preserved at the EAA AirVenture Museum.[2] Originally lent to the museum by Dorothy Frank in 1973, Donald Frank donated the aircraft in 1988 in memory of his mother.[2]
Data from Taylor 1977, p.561, and Plane & Pilot 1978, p.153 except as noted
General characteristics
Performance
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