Flight.: The Miles Monarch 130 Ta.p. Gipsy Major Engine

JUNE 23, 1938.
FLIGHT.
by means of a ratchet-position lever, operating a spring tensioner. This lever, incidentally, no longer tends to jump disconcertingly into the full nose-heavy position; the ratchet is controlled by a press-button on the top of the lever and the whole operation of trim adjustment is a great deal easier on this machine than on its forerunner. During a cross-country between Shoreham and Reading the machine was left to itself in the smooth air at 7,000ft. for as long as five minutes at a time, and at the same height earlier in the day I had changed seats with Mr. Skinner, the Phillips and Powis test pilot, without suffering any serious misgivings. This change-over was made comfortably possible by
T H E MILES M O N A R C H 130 ta.p. Gipsy Major Engine Span 35ft. Tin. (10.85 m.) Length 26ft. (7.92 m.) Weight empty (two-seater) 1,3601b. (617 kg.) Do. (three-seater) 1,3901b. (680.5 kg.) Normal all-up weight 2,000 lb. (907 ft?.) Maximum all-up weight 2,1501b. (975 h$.) Maximum speed 145 m.p.h. (233 km/hr.) Cruising speed (2,100 r.p.m.) 130 m.p.h. (209 Am/Ac.) Stalling speed [flaps down) 40 m.p.h. (4.5 ftmlhr.) Rate of climb 850 ft/min. (259 mjmin.) Range (30-gal. tanks : 2,100 r.p.m.) 600 miles (965 km.) Range (44-gal. tanks : 2,100 r.p.m.) 875 miles (1,410 Am.) Price (two-seater) 1,250. Makers: Phillips & Powis Aircraft, Ltd., Woodley Aerodrome, Reading, Berks.
concerned with airfiow b o t h the Monarch and the Straight are rigidly stable near the stall with the flaps down, but perform more or conventionally with flaps up. Whether sink-approach technique is seriously used or not in normal operations, it could be very helpful indeed when approaching a small field with a dead engine. The importance of arranging throttle and flap interconnection cannot be overstressed. It seems to be a small thing to move an additional lever, but when height is Diagrammatic and perspective suddenly required there is drawings which show the simple often little time to rememoperation of the interconnection and gate arrangement of the ber quite what should be throttle and flap controls. done. Furthermore, it is most certainly possible to take off accidentally with the flaps right down in spite of the fact that there may be a large mechanical indicator on the dashboard. The Monarch will climb quite well with the flaps fully down, but only at an air speed of less than 50 m.p.h. and at the flying angle which seems, to the uninitiated, to be most perilous. Filled with the false courage of the experimental scientist I once attempted to take a Straight off in this condition. The machine left the ground after quite a normal run, but, once in the air, it felt so much as if a piece of strong elastic had been tied to the tail-wheel that all my courage evaporated at once, and I made an immediate landing on what was left of the aerodrome ahead of the machine. With the flaps in the 25-degree position, however, no drag is noticeable until the air speed has risen to the threefigure mark. The Monarch can be flown comfortably and continuously on the stick alone, and it is possible to go from one vertical bank to another without any appreciable yawing motion during the change-over. Where course flying is concerned the machine will fly equally well on its rudder alone, but, rather naturally, any serious turning by this means alone involves some elevator assistance if the nose is to be prevented from dropping. The new type is fitted with rudder bias gear operated by a transverse lever at the base of the dashboard, and this permits the machine to be set on a straight course at any selected engine and air speed. Left to itself in the somewhat bumpy air at lower levels the demonstrator Monarch, after a short time, dropped its port wing and inevitably started a slow turn to the left. On climbing above the cloud layer at 6,000ft., however, the machine could be left to its own devices for quite lone; periods once the throttle position had been arranged to suit the fore-andaft trim, which is adjusted, as before,
the use of the third seat with which the Monarch can be arranged. Although this seat does not, at first sight, appear to be over-roomy, it is, in fact, extremely comfortable, with plenty of space for one's knees. It actually takes the place of half the normal two-seater's luggage compartment and, in the interests of comfort and absolute certainty, the makers recommend a limit of 200 lb. in the load behind the two front seats. Which means, in practice, that a normal third passenger as well as forty or fifty pounds of luggage can be accommodated without any awkward slow-speed effects. With one person, or even two, aboard, it is practically impossible to stall the Monarch from normal flight, but with an overload in the aft position its characteristics become somewhat more con-
" Flight " photograph.
Th:s is sunshine : The Monarch flying above the clouds near Reading.

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JUNE 23, 1938.

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