Early Motor-driven Aircraft
In 1925, Messerschmitt brought out his first motor-driven aircraft, the M17A- It was an improved version of the two-seat S 16Bbut still a high wing aircraft. It was equipped with the Douglas-Scorpion or the Bristol-Cherub motors with ratings between 28 and 36 hp. The aircraft was able to carry a payload of 165 kg over 600 km for a take-off weight of 370 kg. The ratio of the maximum velocity to landing velocity (150 kWh to 65 kWh) was 1:2.3. This meant that Messerschmitt had now produced a new frame of reference for sport aviation with his first motorized aircraft.
Because of his superiority during the Oberfranken flight during internation competitions in 1925 in Munich, he for the first time obtained many orders for the M17. In the fall of 1925, he had to expand his factory and moved to the "Muna," a previous ammunition factory in the main Moor Forest near Bamberg.
After this, the founder of the North Bavarian Commercial Flight Company GmbH, Theo Croneiss, gave him a much more difficult and responsible task, to build a feeder commercial aircraft.An entirely metal aircraft for three to four passengers was to be built based on the Ml7 concept. It had to be robust and solid and had to have better properties and economy than all other aircraft having the same order of magnitude then on the market. This was then also realized. It was the Messerschmitt M18. In the fall of 1925, Messerschmitt started with the calculationand construction work.
Two airframes using the Dural method of construction were started, which later on were called the M18A. They were designed for a flight weight of about 1,000 kg and in addition to the pilot seat there were three passenger seats. The air-cooled, seven-cylinder Seimens Halske motor SH 11 was an engine with a nominal power of 80 hp. The wing was located above the pilot seat and cabin and had a trapezoidal shape. It had a "dissolved" wing spar and was partially covered with cloth. The rudders were made in the form of Dural ribs and were covered with cloth. The landing gear consisted of a frame connected directly to the lower part of the fuselage. The wheels were spring-suspended by means of rubber ropes and the wheels were mounted at the ends of the axles to the side.
The prototype acceptance of the first machine occurred on May 19 and 20, 1926, by the German Test Facility for Aviation (DVL). The first flight by Theo Croneiss occurred on June 15, 1926, "with rain and wind," and lasted for twenty minutes. The results were "very satisfactory flight properties." The prototype test occurred on June 30, 1926 by the DVL. The aircraft was accepted under the number D-94T, and on July 26, 1926, it was put into service on the first feeder line of the North Bavarian Aviation Company GmbH (Line Furth/Nurnberg — Bamberg — Coburg — Schwarza — Weimer — Halle --Leipzig — Hof -- Bayreuth — Furth).
What is hidden behind these data is the exceptional performance of the young Messerschmitt according to the performances of the times. In just slightly over one-half year, he designed, constructed, calculated, and built a completely acceptable, fully developed, all-metal aircraft with properties and performances which allowed the aircraft to become the best and most economical travel limosine of the times. All this even though he had only developed gliders and sport aircraft of wood and cloth up to that time. The new aircraft was completely capable of withstanding the stresses of the feeder traffic.
Messerschmitt also demonstrated his capabilities as a businessman. He had courage, imagination, and initiative. Therefore, he obtained the complete confidence of his employer. In order to be "businesslike," on April 28, 1926, Messerschmitt had his firm recorded as the "Messerschmitt Aviation Company GmbH," at the corporation registration office in Bamberg. On the one hand, Croneiss or the North Bavarian Aviation Company GmbH was employed by Messerschmitt.
However, because of delivery of the first aircraft and until it was paid for, he was also an employee of the "aviation company." Messerschmitt was obligated to make available his proportion {up to 31,000 marks per aircraft) to the aviation company for the purposes of buying the aircraft back. He had to do this in order to have working capital for building further aircraft.
At the opening of the summer flight season in 1927, Messerschmitt delivered three additional machines to the North Bavarian Aviation Company GmbH. The seating capacity was extended to four passengers, and the engine performance was increased by installing the nine-cylinder motor SH 12, with a power of 100 hp. The take-off weight was increased to 1,200 kg. But the most important innovation was the fact that the wings were designed using the single spar construction method, as known previously only for glider aircraft. The use of this construction method in a commercial aircraft gave rise to discussions among all aircraft designers at that time. The fact that this type of construction then prevailed is another indication of the world view of the designer Messerschmitt.
In the following years, a dozen of these aircraft were built, which were called the M18B, and delivered to the North Bavarian Aviation Company GmbH. These then represented the core of the feeder fleet of this company. Additional versions included the "photography aircraft" for Switzerland and Romania equipped with stronger motors, as well as the M18D expanded for six passenger seats. Messerschmitt then obtained the commercial foundation for his company.
In spite of the heavy workload on Messerschmitt, he participated in the development of light and cheap sport craft. At a competition, the "Sachsenflug 1927" in Leipzig, he built a special plane called the M19 to demonstrate where the limitations of light air frame technology lay. The M19 was his first low wing aircraft, and it was the first motor-driven aircraft which had a payload greater than the empty weight. Messsrschmitt built two aircraft for this competition. Because of the favorable weight conditions he was given the grade "infinity," and therefore, obtained his first prizes. His pilots, Croneiss and von Conta, together won the main prize of 6,000 RM. This was clearly a "designer" victory.
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