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Miller WM-2

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WM-2
WM-2
Role Sport aircraft
National origin United States
Manufacturer Homebuilt
Designer William Terry Miller
First flight August 1972

The Miller WM-2 was a single-seat sport aircraft designed in the United States in the early 1970s and marketed for home building.[1] Although primarily a powered aircraft, the WM-2's high aspect-ratio wings enabled the pilot to stop the engine and soar on thermals as with a sailplane (designer W. Terry Miller's previous projects had been sailplanes).[2]

It was a generally conventional, low-wing cantilever monoplane with a cockpit enclosed by a bubble canopy. The undercarriage, however, was a manually retractable monowheel with a tailskid behind it.[2] The fuselage was of wooden construction, covered in plywood and fibreglass, while the wings and tail were built of wood and covered in fabric.[3]


Specifications (prototype)

[edit]

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1977–78, 548

General characteristics

  • Crew: One pilot
  • Length: 20 ft 0 in (6.10 m)
  • Wingspan: 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m)
  • Height: 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
  • Aspect ratio: 11.1
  • Airfoil: Modified NACA laminar-flow sections
  • Empty weight: 775 lb (351 kg)
  • Gross weight: 1,050 lb (476 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Continental A65 , 65 hp (49 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 136 mph (219 km/h, 118 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 120 mph (192 km/h, 100 kn)
  • Range: 336 mi (540 km, 292 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 24,000 ft (7,300 m)
  • Maximum glide ratio: 15
  • Rate of climb: 890 ft/min (4.5 m/s)

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Taylor 1989, 675
  2. ^ a b Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1977–78, 548
  3. ^ "The Miller Sport Plane" (PDF). Sport Aviation: 20. May 1973. Retrieved 18 January 2014.

References

[edit]
  • Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1977–78. London: Jane's Publishing.
  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.