The Mini Coupe was designed by Bill Johnson and was the very first of the modern material kits. The Mini Coupe made its first flight in 1971 and was certified in 1972.
The Mini Coupe kit was purchased "complete" to the firewall in 1972, with all materials required to build the airplane. Ribs were formed along with the spars, wing skins, fuselage skins, tail assembly, controls assemblies, landing gear, brakes, tires, tubes, wheels, and about 5,000 pop rivets.
By late 1975, approximately 150 sets of plans had been sold. The Mini Coupe is a lightweight all-metal, single seat sporting aircraft powered by a 65-hp modified Volkswagen 1600-cc engine. Its wings are of constant-chord design with all-metal, stressed-skin construction with metal ailerons and no flaps or trim tabs. Its landing gear is the nonretractable tricycle type with oversize tires. The single seat is covered by a canopy or can be left open.
Price 1982: $2,850 Excludes instruments, wheels, bearings, axles, brakes, tires, tubes and cockpit covering. Units delivered to June 1981: 170.
The VW powered Mini Coupe in 2008 was available from DCS Inc.
Engines: VW-1600 Engine options: up to 100 hp MTOW utility: 850 lb MTOW Std cat: 900 lb Empty Wt. 497 lb Fuel capacity 13-15 USG Usefull load 353 - 403 lb Wingspan 22 ft 4 in – 24 ft Length 16’4” Vne 145 mph Cruise 90-110 mph Stall 48 mph Climb rate 750 fpm Ceil-ing 12,500 ft Takeoff run 300 ft Landing roll 400 ft Range 300 miles Cabin width 24 in Seats: 1 Undercarrage: nose wheel Tires: 600 x 6