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| Miles Magister |
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The Miles M.14 Magister was a British 2-seat
monoplane basic trainer aircraft built by the
Miles Aircraft for the Royal Air Force and
Fleet Air Arm. Affectionately known as the
Maggie, the Magister was based on Miles'
civilian Hawk Major and Hawk Trainer and was
the first monoplane designed specifically as
a trainer for the RAF. As a low-wing
monoplane, it was an ideal introduction to
the Spitfire and Hurricane for new pilots.
The Magister was designed to meet Air
Ministry Specification T.40/36P and first
flew in March 1937. The design was based on
an open-cockpit, low wing cantilever
monoplane of spruce structure covered in
plywood. The wing centre section has no
dihedral and is of constant section with
outer sections having dihedral and tapering
towards the tip. Split flaps were fitted as
standard. The initial M.14 was followed by
the definitive Miles M.14A Magister I with a
taller rudder, deeper rear fuselage and,
eventually, anti-spin strakes on rear
fuselage. Notwithstanding the relatively
large number built, contemporary glues used
to assemble the wooden aircraft have not
stood the test of time and seemingly only one
remains airworthy on the British register in
2007 with a few others designated Hawk
Trainers.
The Miles Magister is a phrase in Latin,
pronounced Me-lays Mag-ister, that translates
as "soldier-teacher" which was very fitting
for its eventual role as a basic training
aircraft. Production began in October 1937
and by the start of the Second World War over
700 Magisters had entered service with RAF
Elementary Flying Training Schools,
eventually equipping 16 such schools as well
as the Central Flying School. Large numbers
of civilian Hawk Majors were also pressed
into service as trainers. Production of the
Magister continued until 1941 by which time
1,203 had been built by Miles and an
additional 100 were built under licence in
Turkey. After the war many Magisters were
converted for civilian uses and redesignated
as the Hawk Trainer III.
Tags : Miles Magister WW2 RAF Warbird Aviation Aircraft Shutleworth |
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Affichage : 2515
Durée : 388 s |
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