KEEP ‘EM FLYING
Left: The Mooney Mite’s forward-swept tail design was one of the design features that were carried over to the four-place Mooney. Center: Note the similarities in the wing design between this later model Mite and the Mooney M-20. Right: The Mooney Mite can be flown with its sliding canopy open.
piece, cantilever box-type wing had a single spruce spar with wood ribs and plywood covering, which was then covered in fabric. The cockpit area was protected by steel tubing construction and covered with aluminum skin. The aft portion of the
fuselage was built of wood formers and stringers, and then covered with plywood and fabric (as was the tail). The Mite’s wing deserves a further mention, because it tapers from 56 inches at the root down to 28 inches at the tip. The wing is comprised
of two distinct airfoils—a laminar type for the inboard portions, and a standard (non-laminar) type for the wingtips. This yields positive aileron control further into a stall; another interesting note is that the Mite’s forward-swept tail aids in spin recovery.
Pilots accustomed to flying other light planes of the same era may be surprised to find that the Mite is so light on the controls that it responds to mere fingertip input. The ailerons are smoothly operated by push-pull tubes, and the later models also have push-pull tubes for the elevators and the trim system (along with mechanical linkage), while the rudder remains cable operated. The earlier models have cable-operated elevators, rudder, and trim.
DESIGN FEATURES Mooney included several interesting design features in the Mite, one of which was the “Safe-Trim” system which integrated the operation of the movable tail and flaps. Simply put by Mooney, “It does what you wish it to do.” The Safe-Trim was a modified version of the “Simpli-Fly” trim system used on the Culver V (M-17), and was engineered to maintain the correct pitch attitude while the flaps were being extended. It’s engaged by a crank on the left side of the cockpit which moves the tail assembly in
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DOMmagazine.com | july 2020
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