Named after Graham Lee’s Granddaughter, it is a small negative stagger Sesquiplane, constructed of Aluminum tube and fabric. Miranda is a very light cabin job, designed for efficiency in touring and fun. The small chord lower wing improves total lift. Whittman wing tips boost top speed and climb; shorten take off and reduce stall speed. A large diameter prop gives the plane STOL performance, while the short wing span Allows steep decent angles for excellent short field performance. Miranda can be powered with a Rotax 277 to 582, VW, Hirth or most motors between 28 and 65 horse. Extremely versatile.
Wingspan: 22 ft Wing Area: 117 sq. ft. Length: 17 ft 8 in Height: 7 ft 6 in Weight: 280 lbs Fuel Tank: 10 US gal. Stall: 30 mph Cruise: 70-90 mph Top Speed: 100+ mph Never Exceed: 125 mph Gross wt: 600 lbs G Factor: 5.7+ 2.8-
The Morane Saulnier N or Bullet is an earlier WW1 Design, one of the first to have a gun that fired through the propeller requiring deflector plates on the propeller. This Shoulder wing design was faster than anything around at the time despite being wire braced. The replica is constructed just like the Nieuport, of tubes and gussets, but has the addition of 1/8 plywood formers and stringers to round out the fuselage. Builders could forego the formers and change the tail to produce a Pfalz (the German variant). The Morane replica has proper ailerons, as they did on the later models, and the flying stabilator can be split into stab and elevator. It flew well either way. Best Performance with Rotax or Hirth ~ 500cc 2.5 or 3:1 reduction. VW is possible, but performance will suffer appreciably in acceleration and climb due to short propeller diameter. Rotax 503 will swing a 72 X 33 or 68 X 34 and really perform. VW’s will swing 60 or 61 inch @ 3000 RPM with just over Half the thrust.
Wingspan: 23 ft 10 in Wing Area: 117.5 Length: 19 ft 3 in Height: ~6 ft Weight: ~275 lbs empty Fuel Tank: Up to 12 US gal. Stall: mid 30’s Cruise: mid 70’s Top Speed: 100+ Never Exceed: 115 Gross wt.: 600 lbs G Factor: 5.7+ 2.8-
In 1959 a twin-float seaplane version was being tested. Originally a cantilever monoplane, the Hydro-Kurir features single bracing struts, the licence-built 155 hp Walter Minor 6-III engine has a redesigned cowling, and the wings raised above the upper fuselage contour. The Hydro-Kurir is actually the fifth Kurir built (50005).
Length: 32.48 ft / 9.9 m Height: 11.483 ft / 3.5 m Wingspan: 46.752 ft / 14.25m Max. speed: 94 kts / 175 kph Service ceiling: 15092 ft / 4600 m
The Church Midwing was originally advertised as “the sportiest, safest, best-looking airplane in the light, single seat class,” and sold as a home-built kit.
Like the first Church aircraft, built by James Church in 1928, the Church Midwing has a Heath fuselage, which is wire-braced and bolted. The Midwing lacks a windscreen, providing the pilot protection from windblast with a cowling, which extends from the firewall to the instrument panel. The instrument panel itself consists only of a tachometer, and oil pressure and temperature gauges.
1955
Gene Chase acquired the fuselage, stabilizer and elevator, Church wings with ailerons, windshield cowling, and a set of plans in the 1960’s. Working from those plans, which are copies of the original set drawn by James Church, Gene began a five-year restoration process. Gene’s restored Midwing made its first appearance at EAA during the 1970 Oshkosh fly-in. It made its first flight at the Ottumwa Fly-In in September of that year, witnessed by the plane’s creator, James Church. On May 29, 1972, James Church visited Gene Chase in Tulsa and flew the plane; he notes in the plane’s log book that this was, “my first flight in one of my Mid-Wings since 1941 (31 years ago).”
Ultralight replica: RagWing Aircraft RW4 Midwing Sport
Engine: Heath-Henderson 83ci, 27 hp @ 2,700 r.p.m. Length: 16 ft. 9 in. Span: 26 ft. 8 in. Wing area: 110 sq. ft. Chord: 4 ft. 6 in. Empty Weight: 367 lbs. Gross Weight: 584 lbs. Fuel capacity: 4 ½ USgals. Oil capacity: 6 quarts Fuel consumption: Approx. 2 g.p.h. @ 2,500 r.p.m. Top speed: 90 m.p.h. (est.) Cruising speed: 70 m.p.h. (est.) Landing speed: 28 m.p.h. (est.)
The reliance on foreign imports was not ideal, and so, despite having to pick up and move their comparatively new and basic aircraft industries further west as the Japanese advanced, the Chinese began to explore building their own aircraft designs. And this has led to two, known as the Chu XP-series.
The first of these Chinese aircraft, the XP-0 was initiated in early 1941. Major General Chu Chia-Jen, who was Chief of the Air Force Technical Bureau, started development of an indigenous fighter that would be heavily based on the Curtis Hawk 75 export fighter.
This aircraft had been ordered in kit form from the United States and production had been attempted, but proved too much for the young aero industry, especially with the pressures of Japanese bombing and factory relocation. However, it was the most modern design that the Chinese had experience with, so it formed the basis of the XP-0.
Lacking modern aeronautical materials, the Chinese had to institute many compromises. Instead of the Hawk’s all metal structure, the XP-0 used a mixed construction, utilizing a welded tube metal fuselage which was clad in a plywood skin. The wings too were of wooden construction.
The engine was the Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp that produced 1,200hp, an engine that was the most powerful available in any numbers to the Chinese.
A unique prototype was manufactured in 1943 by AFAMF-Yangling, using the tail surfaces of a Hawk 75, the centre section of the wing and the landing gear of a North American NA-6, the tailwheel from P-43 and the engine and cockpit of a P-66. The wings were built in wood/plywood.
There are some issues in the information on armament. Generally, it is stated that this aircraft had a rather heavy weapon load of either two or four 20mm cannons, which it carried in underwing fairings, and a centreline bomb rack. But for early 1941, that would be an extremely powerful punch for a single-engine fighter, and certainly a massive step up from the Hawk 75. As said, the available evidence is fragmentary. But it is possible that both may be correct. Because the design was initiated in early 1941, and the first prototype didn’t fly until 1943, it is conceivable that considering the development time involved, the weapon fit did evolve before that first flight.
First flight
Apparently, the aircraft handled well in the air, but its performance as a fighter by 1943 standards was low. Top speed was reported as 313mph (c.503kp/h) and XP-0 seems to have been broadly comparable to aircraft of its generation.
How well it would have stood up to prolonged flight testing is also a question because on landing the aircraft ground looped and was written off. However, the pilot survived and his debrief apparently allowed at least one more prototype to be developed.
1944
It is confusing as to how many other variants of the XP-0 were built, but some Chinese online sources assert that as many as nine improved models were built through 1944-46.
An upgraded X-P0 with different appearance was shown in 1944.
By mid-1941 China was the recipient of Lend-Lease aid from the United States, and though it would take a while to really build up the Nationalist forces, the massive influx of modern aircraft meant the need for a home-grown fighter was vastly diminished.
Lei Yun 1942 after Japanese bombing
Engine: Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp, 1,200hp Wingspan: 11.4 m Length: 8.8 m Height: 3.70 m Wing area: 22 sq.m Max weight: 2,990 kg est max speed: 504 kph Range 1,400 km
