Miles Whitney Straight Article Index for
Miles
Website Links For
Miles
 

Information About

Miles Whitney Straight




A total of 50 M.11A and '''M.11B''' Whitney Straights were built in two years of production. The most common was the M.11A, powered by a 130 hp (97 kW) De Havilland Gipsy Major I while the M.11B was powered by a 135 hp (101 kW) Amherst Villiers Maya I, adding 10 mph (16 km/h) to its maximum speed and 200 ft/min (60 m/min) to its rate of climb. A single '''M.11C''' prototype, fitted with a 145 hp (108 kW) de Havilland Gypsy Major II engine and variable-pitch propeller, was tested. It crashed at Harefield, Berkshire on 28 June , 1938 , killing the test pilot, Wing Commander F.W. Stent. Modified Whitney Straights were also used as engine test beds and by Miles to test different flap designs.

At the outbreak of World War II the Royal Air Force impressed 23 Whitney Straights for use as communications aircraft. Twenty-one of these served in the UK, one in India and one in Egypt . One M.11A also served with the Fleet Air Arm from 1940 to 1943 and three with the Royal New Zealand Air Force .

Between 1939 and 1943, a New Zealand machine piloted by Alan Pritchard was used for aerial seed sowing trials at Ninety Mile Beach and later spreading superphosphate. These trials were part of the experiments which lead to the development of Aerial Topdressing , (see also Agricultural Aircraft ).


SPECIFICATIONS (M.11A)



General characteristics

  • Crew: two

  • Length: 25 ft (7.6 m)

  • Wingspan: 35 ft 8 in (10.9 m)

  • Height: 6 ft 6 in (2.0 m)

  • Wing area: 178 ft&2 (16.5 m&2)

  • Empty: 1,250 lb (570 kg)

  • Loaded: 2,000 lb (900 kg)

  • Maximum takeoff: kg ( lb)

  • Powerplant: 1 x De Havilland Gipsy Major I , 130 hp (97 kW)



Performance

  • Maximum speed: 145 mph (233 km/h)

  • Range: 570 miles (920 km)

  • Service ceiling: 18,500 ft (5,600 m)

  • Rate of climb: 850 ft/min (260 m/min)

  • Wing loading: lb/ft&2 ( kg/m&2)

  • Power/Mass: hp/lb ( kW/kg)



Armament

  • none



MILITARY OPERATORS

  • New Zealand, United Kingdom (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy).



RELATED CONTENT

Related development:
Miles Monarch

Comparable aircraft:

Designation sequence:
M.8 -
M.9 -
M.9A -
M.11 -
M.12 -
M.13 -
M.14


SEE ALSO