Miles Martinet

M.25 Martinet
Type:	Target tug plane
Design country:	United Kingdom
Manufacturer:	Miles Aircraft
First flight:	April 24, 1942
Production time:	1942-1945
Number of pieces:	1,724

The Miles M.25 Martinet was a target tug aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm during World War II . It was the first British aircraft specifically designed for target tow.

development and construction

The Martinet was developed on the basis of the Miles Master II and received a reinforced airframe in order to be able to cope with the strains of towing exercise targets. Other differences to the Master were a longer nose, a higher cockpit and a larger wingspan . The exercise targets and the towing gear were stowed under a payload fairing under the fuselage and retracted again by means of an external, wind -powered winch .

The first prototype of the Martinet completed its maiden flight on April 24, 1942. The test pilot was Flight Lieutenant Thomas Rose. A total of 1,724 Martinet units were built by Miles Aircraft for the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm according to Air Ministry Specification 12/41.

Two other variants of the Martinet have been developed. The M.50 Queen Martinet was a radio-controlled target drone built by the 69 copies and a further 17 from serial Martinet were rebuilt. The M.37 Martinet Trainer was developed during World War II, but only built twice. All examples of the Martinet and its variants were produced at the Woodley , Berkshire factory.

Versions

M.25 Martinet

Two-seat target tow plane ; used by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy (there under the name Martinet TT.Mk I)

M.50 Queen Martinet

Unmanned, radio-controlled targeting drone

M.37 Martinet trainer

Two-seat trainer aircraft ; two copies built

operator

Royal Air Force Martinet

 Belgium

• Belgian Air Force - 11 specimens in service as target tow planes from 1947–1953

 France

• French Air Force - supplied with 41 Martinet TT.1s between 1945 and 1948

 Ireland

• Irish Air Corps - supplied with two Martinet TT.1s in 1946

 Portugal

• Marinha Portuguesa (Portuguese Navy)
• Força Aérea Portuguesa (Portuguese Air Force)

 Sweden

• Svensk Flygtjänst - Nine units ordered, eight of which were used as target tow planes between 1946 and 1951

 Turkey

• Hava Kuvetleri (Turkish Air Force)

 United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force
• Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm

Technical specifications

Three-sided view

Parameter	Data
crew	2
length	30.9  ft (9.42  m )
span	39 ft (11.89 m)
height	11.6 ft (3.54 m)
Empty mass	4,600  lb (2,087  kg )
Max. Takeoff mass	6,750 lb (3,062 kg)
Cruising speed	199  mph (320  km / h )
Top speed	240 mph (386 km / h)
Range	694  mi (1,117  km )
Engines	1 × radial engine Bristol Mercury with 870  PS (640  kW )

Preserved copies

A single machine is still preserved today. It is owned by the Museum of Berkshire Aviation in the UK . The aircraft was built in 1943 and was stationed at the Royal Air Force base in Reykjavík . In 1949 it was sold to an aviation club in Akureyri and registered under the Icelandic civilian registration TF-SHC. The club flew the machine until it crashed near Kópasker in northeast Iceland in 1951 . Until the wreck was recovered and stored by the Icelandic Aviation Historical Society in 1977, it remained at the crash site.

In 1996 the aircraft was brought back to the UK from the Museum of Berkshire for restoration.

See also

• List of aircraft types

literature

• Peter Amos: Miles Aircraft - The Wartime Years, 1939 to 1945 . Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, Tonbridge, UK 2012, ISBN 978-0-85130-430-4 (English).
• Peter Amos, Don Lambert Brown: Miles Aircraft Since 1925, Volume 1 . Putnam Aeronautical, London 2000, ISBN 0-85177-787-2 (English).
• Don Lambert Brown: Miles Aircraft Since 1925 . Putnam & Company Ltd., London 1970, ISBN 0-370-00127-3 (English).
• David Mondey: The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II . Chancellor Press, London 1994, ISBN 1-85152-668-4 (English).
• Ray Sturtivant, Theo Ballance: The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm . Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., Tonbridge, UK 1994, ISBN 0-85130-223-8 (English).

Web links

Commons : Miles M.25 Martinet  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Miles M.25 Martinet TT.1. Museum of Berkshire Aviation, accessed March 30, 2020 . 
2. ^ Martinet Restoration News. Museum of Berkshire Aviation, October 2015, accessed March 30, 2020 .