Is there someone who knows a lot about the Midget Mustang? I saw a Midget Mustang 2004 for sale in my area and I wonder if it would be a good first aerobatic airplane. The engine is a Lycoming 0-235-C2C ... 115 HP. 105 hrs SMOH and on the body. In the ad, it says that the airplane handle +/-9 G's. The guy sells it for 32000$. The airplane is perfect and looks like a small warbird fighter!
Do you think a Pitt S1S would be a better choice for an aerobatic beginner pilot looking for a long lasting airplane.
Thanks for your help!
Ian
Midget Mustang M1A... good investment?
Moderators: North Shore, sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, lilfssister
Re: Midget Mustang M1A... good investment?
I have never seen one flown in an aerobatic contest and I've flown in a few dozen contests I suppose by now. The clostest thing I've seen is a Cassut which seemed to do quite well and was a real rocket in the box. Not sure how strong they are. I imagine its very builder dependent.
You can get a pretty nice pitts S-1S for that price and I think I'd go with a known solid aerobatic aircraft rather than something unknown .. at least to me.
They are very cool looking though arn't they and probably considerably cheaper to operate.
Peter
You can get a pretty nice pitts S-1S for that price and I think I'd go with a known solid aerobatic aircraft rather than something unknown .. at least to me.
They are very cool looking though arn't they and probably considerably cheaper to operate.
Peter
Re: Midget Mustang M1A... good investment?
Hi
Midget Mustang is fun little airplane, but not very aerobatic. Sure, it will do loops and rolls, but that's about it. It was build for speed so it has a laminar flow wing. Also +/-9G is an ultimate load (you start bending things at 9Gs). They are usually very cheap - price of engine and prop, $32Gs sounds very expensive, especially with Lyc 235. You can find one even with Lyc 320 for half that price. Pitts is 10 times the aircraft if you think competition aerobatics. Midget Mustang would be OK for a sport little plane with occasional loop and roll. It is faster but usually doesn't carry much fuel, so it is not that useful cross country machine either. Think of it as very cheap RV3. You get what you pay for. Buy a Pitts.
Jerz
Midget Mustang is fun little airplane, but not very aerobatic. Sure, it will do loops and rolls, but that's about it. It was build for speed so it has a laminar flow wing. Also +/-9G is an ultimate load (you start bending things at 9Gs). They are usually very cheap - price of engine and prop, $32Gs sounds very expensive, especially with Lyc 235. You can find one even with Lyc 320 for half that price. Pitts is 10 times the aircraft if you think competition aerobatics. Midget Mustang would be OK for a sport little plane with occasional loop and roll. It is faster but usually doesn't carry much fuel, so it is not that useful cross country machine either. Think of it as very cheap RV3. You get what you pay for. Buy a Pitts.
Jerz
Re: Midget Mustang M1A... good investment?
Three aircraft I would recommend to people, who
are looking at an entry-level aerobatic airplane:
Decathlon (if you really, really have to have 2 seats)
Pitts S1C or S1S (incredible bang for the buck)
YAK-55M (same engine as Sukhoi, but metal so heavier)
are looking at an entry-level aerobatic airplane:
Decathlon (if you really, really have to have 2 seats)
Pitts S1C or S1S (incredible bang for the buck)
YAK-55M (same engine as Sukhoi, but metal so heavier)
Re: Midget Mustang M1A... good investment?
I have owned an M-1 for about 8 years now, they are aerobatic but too fast to stay in the box. They have a symetrical airfoil but most do not have inverted oil or fuel. 9 G is the ultimate design load but I suspect they would handle it without bending unlike the RV types which are famous for shedding wings. The design load is 6 G. An M-1 will pull 4 G using two fingers with ease. A lot of guys who buy them and only have flown Citabrias or something end up scaring themselves, or killing themselves.
PIO is a real problem with ham fisted fliers. It is the most responsive plane I have ever flown. Aileron rolls are its forte for sure. The manual says 320 degrees a second. It is difficult to do a perfect loop. By perfect I mean completely round and exiting the bottom within 25 feet of entry. There is not a lot of wing area. The wing is laminar flow and actually the same # as the BD5-J. There is no doubt about weather or not your plane is stalled.
With an O-235 you will climb around 1500 to 2000 feet a minute on a cool day depending on your prop. TAS at 8000' will be between 190 and 200 mph. Stay away from the dolled up Midget Mustangs with all the gee-whiz garbage pilots tend to cram into their planes as the little birds really suffer once the empty weight gets over 650 pounds. Due to the small wing your stall speed and overall performance suffers. They were designed around a C-85 with no electrics at all. Mine has the O-235.
They are easier to land than a Pitts but are much more responsive in the air. As far as competition goes the Pitts would win hands down. The Pitts is way more forgiving doing aerobatics plus much slower. If you were racing around pylons however a Midget Mustang would leave them in the dust.
PIO is a real problem with ham fisted fliers. It is the most responsive plane I have ever flown. Aileron rolls are its forte for sure. The manual says 320 degrees a second. It is difficult to do a perfect loop. By perfect I mean completely round and exiting the bottom within 25 feet of entry. There is not a lot of wing area. The wing is laminar flow and actually the same # as the BD5-J. There is no doubt about weather or not your plane is stalled.
With an O-235 you will climb around 1500 to 2000 feet a minute on a cool day depending on your prop. TAS at 8000' will be between 190 and 200 mph. Stay away from the dolled up Midget Mustangs with all the gee-whiz garbage pilots tend to cram into their planes as the little birds really suffer once the empty weight gets over 650 pounds. Due to the small wing your stall speed and overall performance suffers. They were designed around a C-85 with no electrics at all. Mine has the O-235.
They are easier to land than a Pitts but are much more responsive in the air. As far as competition goes the Pitts would win hands down. The Pitts is way more forgiving doing aerobatics plus much slower. If you were racing around pylons however a Midget Mustang would leave them in the dust.
Re: Midget Mustang M1A... good investment?
I also should mention many people simply will not fit in an M-1. If you are over 5'-10" or a little on the wide side it will be a bit of a squeeze to get in with a chute. The Cassuts are even smaller than the Mustang!
