Tena Mini Coupe
DCS Inc Mini Coupe

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