Smith Miniplane

The Smith DSA-1 Miniplane ("Darn Small Aeroplane",[1][4] "Darned Small Airplane",[2][5] or "Damn Small Airplane"[6]) is a single-seat, single-engine sport aircraft designed in the United States in the 1950s and marketed for home building.[7]

DSA-1 Miniplane
Role Homebuilt sport biplane
National origin United States
Manufacturer Sky Classic Aircraft
Designer Frank W. Smith[1]
First flight 29 October 1956[2]
Status Plans available (2011)
Number built 350 sets of plans sold by 1977[1]
Unit cost
approximately $2560 to build in 1971[3]
Smith Miniplane
Smith Miniplane

Design

The Miniplane is a conventional single-bay biplane with staggered wings of unequal span braced with N-struts and wires.[1][8] The Miniplane design has fixed undercarriage with a steerable tailwheel[8] and although designed with an open cockpit,[1][5][8] many have been fitted with canopies. The fuselage and the tail fin are of a conventional truss design constructed of welded steel tube and covered in fabric,[1][2][8][9] and the wing spars and ribs are made from spruce and also fabric-covered.[1][2][8][9] A variant has been built with an all-metal wing construction.[10]

Engines used by builders are generally the 65-hp (48-kW) Continental A65, 85-hp (63-kW) Continental C85 or the Lycoming O-235 of 100 hp to 125 hp (75 kW to 93 kW).[9]

Development

Designer Frank Smith died of a heart attack shortly after completing the prototype.[5] His wife, Dorothy, and son, Donald continued to market the plans into the 1970s[1][2][5] and Donald worked on a two-seat version,[5] the Miniplane +1.[1]

In the late 1990s Sky Classic Aircraft of Des Moines, Iowa was developing an improved version of the Miniplane designated as the Smith Sport Miniplane. This model featured more cockpit room for larger pilots, a new airfoil and re-drawn plans to aid construction.[11]

In 2010, Sky Classic Aircraft of Des Moines, Iowa marketed plans for another updated version of the Miniplane, the Miniplane 2000.[12] The Miniplane 2000 incorporates several modifications to the original design, including a slightly longer and wider fuselage to accommodate larger pilots,[12][13] adding bracing struts to reinforce the horizontal stabilizer,[12] and changing the airfoil section[14] and angles of incidence of the wings.[12][15]

Operational history

In August 1959, Tom Messick flew a Miniplane on a 4,200-mile (6,700-km) round trip to attend the EAA Fly-in at Rockford, Illinois and was awarded a trophy for flying the longest distance to the event.[2]

The prototype DSA-1 is preserved at the EAA AirVenture Museum.[2] Originally lent to the museum by Dorothy and Donald Smith in 1973, Donald donated the aircraft in 1988 in memory of his mother.[2]

Variants
DSA-1 Miniplane
original single-seat version by Frank Smith[4]
Miniplane +1
two-seat version by Donald Smith
Miniplane 2000
updated version by Sky Classic Aircraft[16]
Sport Miniplane
updated version from the late 1990s by Sky Classic Aircraft, with more cockpit room for larger pilots, a new airfoil and re-drawn plans.[11]

Specifications (DSA-1 prototype)

Data from Taylor 1977, p.561, and Plane & Pilot 1978, p.153 except as noted

General characteristics

  • Crew: One pilot
  • Length: 15 ft 3 in (4.65 m)
  • Wingspan: 17 ft 0 in (5.18 m)
  • Height: 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m)
  • Wing area: 100 sq ft (9.29 m2)
  • Empty weight: 616 lb (279 kg)
  • Gross weight: 1,000 lb (454 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-235-C , 108 hp (81 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 135 mph (217 km/h, 117 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 122 mph (198 km/h, 106 kn)
  • Stall speed: 56 mph (91 km/h, 49 kn)
  • Range: 300 mi (480 km, 260 nmi) [2]
  • Service ceiling: 13,000 ft (3,960 m)
  • Rate of climb: 1,600 ft/min (8.1 m/s)
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See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Notes
  1. Taylor 1977, p.561
  2. "Smith DSA-1 Miniplane — N90P"
  3. Leo J. Kohn (Winter 1971). "The true cost of building your own plane". Air Trails: 63.
  4. Montgomery 1992, p.12
  5. Davisson 1970
  6. "Canadian Fly-in"
  7. Taylor 1989, p.826
  8. Markowski 1980, p.351
  9. Plane & Pilot 1978, p.153
  10. "Metal Winged Miniplane". Sport Aviation. May 1960.
  11. Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition, page 358. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. ISBN 0-9636409-4-1
  12. "WE Love Biplanes"
  13. Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16, page 125. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ISSN 1368-485X
  14. the original design had a NACA 4412 profile (Taylor 1977, p.561); the revised design uses NASA 23013 ("WE Love Biplanes")
  15. Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 118. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
  16. Sky Classic Aircraft. "We Love Biplanes". skyclassic.net. Retrieved 29 April 2015.

References
  • "Canadian Fly-in". Flight International: 31. 5 July 1962. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  • Davisson, Budd (December 1970). "Mr. Smith's Mini-Plane". Air Progress. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  • Markowski, Mark (1980). The Encyclopedia of Homebuilt Aircraft. Blue Ridge Summit: Tab Books. pp. 351–54.
  • Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster (1992). A Field Guide to Airplanes, Second Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin. p. 12.
  • Plane & Pilot (1978). 1978 Aircraft Directory. Santa Monica: Werner & Werner. p. 153.
  • "Smith DSA-1 Miniplane — N90P". AirVenture Museum. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  • Taylor, John W. R. (1977). 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.
  • "WE Love Biplanes". Sky Classic Aircraft. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
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