Miles Mercury

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.

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
Manufacturer Phillips & Powis
Designer Ray Bournon
First flight 11 July 1941
Status one remains operational
Primary user private pilot owners
Number built six
Variants Miles Messenger

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.

Variants
  • M.28 Mark I: First prototype – Two seat trainer, powered by 130 hp (97 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major I engine.[3]
  • M.28 Mark II: Three seat trainer (with dual controls) powered by 140 hp (100 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major IIA. One built 1942. Re-engined with 140 hp Blackburn Cirrus Major II and then with a 150 hp (110 kW) Cirrus Major III post-war.[4]
  • M.28 Mark III: Three seat trainer with triple controls for two students and one instructor, powered by 150 hp Cirrus Major 3 and with revised wing section. One built (PW937).[5][6]
  • M.28 Mark IV: Four seat communications aircraft powered by 145 hp (108 kW) Gipsy Major IIA. One built 1944.[4]
  • M.28 Mark V: Post-war four-seater powered by Cirrus Major III. Square rear windows. One built 1947.[7]
  • M.28 Mark VI: Post war four-seater powered by Cirrus Major III. Round rear windows. One built 1946.[7]

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)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miles Mercury.

Notes
  1. Mondey 2002, p. 172.
  2. Jackson, 1974, p.271
  3. Jerram Aeroplane Monthly September 1986, p. 474.
  4. Jerram Aeroplane Monthly September 1986, pp. 475–476.
  5. Jerram Aeroplane Monthly September 1986, p. 475.
  6. Mason 2010, p. 251.
  7. Jerram Aeroplane Monthly September 1986, p. 476.
  8. Brown 1970, pp. 195, 200

Bibliography
  • Amos, Peter. and Brown, Don Lambert. Miles Aircraft Since 1925, Volume 1. London: Putnam Aeronautical, 2000. ISBN 0-85177-787-2.
  • Brown, Don Lambert. Miles Aircraft Since 1925. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1970. ISBN 0-370-00127-3.
  • Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919 - Volume 3. 1974. Putnam & Company Ltd. ISBN 0-370-10014-X.
  • Jerram, Mike. "For Business And Pleasure—No. 3", Aeroplane Monthly, Vol. 14, No. 9, September 1986. pp. 474–477. ISSN 0143-7240.
  • Mason, Tim. The Secret Years: Flight Testing at Boscombe Down, 1939-1945. Crowborough, UK: Hikoki Publications, 2010. ISBN 978-1-9021-0914-5.
  • Mondey, David. The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II. London: Chancellor Press, 2002. ISBN 1-85152-668-4.
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