The Cessna XMC was a prototype technology demonstrator designed to show advanced aerodynamics and materials. The marketing name of XMC stood for "Experimental Magic Carpet" with the single test aircraft designated Cessna 1014 and later 1034 in company documentation. Murphy, Daryl
"The Cessnas that got away."
''wingsoverkansas.com'', May 8, 2005. Retrieved: August 25, 2017.

Design and development

The two-seat Cessna XMC was built to test several concepts in light aircraft design including a ducted propeller and swept cantilever wing. The program ran from the beginning of 1971 until the end of 1972. The aircraft was used to assess improved visibility,

center of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weight function, weighted relative position (vector), position of the distributed mass sums to zero. Thi ...

effects, control surface locations and response, cabin noise levels and also the relationship of wing versus engine and propeller.Visschedijk, Johan, Walter van Tilborg and Karl Smith.
"Cessna XMC."
''1000aircraftphotos.com'', December 14, 2003. Retrieved: August 25, 2017. The XMC employed metal-to-metal bonding, allowing for experimentation in expanded use for bonding in other types in the Cessna commercial product line. Additional stress testing was also conducted as necessary as the aircraft entered further testing and modification."Cessna Aircraft Company's XMC." ''Canadian Wings'', June–July 1971, p. 11. The sole prototype was registered as N7174C and given Cessna serial number 674. It was powered by a

Continental O-200 The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in³ (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''Federal Aviation Admini ...

engine mounted in

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

. This was the same powerplant used in the then-current production

Cessna 150 The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation airplane that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 22-23. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. In 19 ...

. The tail boom was similar in design to that used on the

Cessna Skymaster The Cessna Skymaster is an American twin-engine civil utility aircraft built in a push-pull configuration. Its engines are mounted in the nose and rear of its pod-style fuselage. Twin booms extend aft of the wings to the vertical stabilizers, ...

. The first flight of the 1014 model was made on January 22, 1971 by Cessna test pilot Bruce Barrett. The aircraft was modified in 1972 and given a new model number, 1034. In this configuration it was first flown June 1, 1972, again with Bruce Barrett at the controls.

Operational history

Test program

The test program consisted of three phases: ;Phase I - Model 1014 - January 1971 :ground handling, flying characteristics and visibility testing ;Phase II - Model 1014 - May 1971 :Exploring methods of reducing weight and production costs for single and twin-engine Cessnas ;Phase III - Model 1034 - June 1972 :Use of shrouded propeller to test improvements in propeller efficiency and reduction of noise

Test results

The XMC project ended in 1972. The aircraft configuration proved to have higher cabin noise levels than the production Cessna 150 and offered no performance advantages over the older design.

Variants

;Model 1014 XMC :The single aircraft in its initial configuration with unducted pusher propeller and fully faired nose wheel ;Model 1034 XMC :The same aircraft was modified in 1972 with a shrouded propeller to explore two design areas: improvement of the propulsive efficiency and noise reduction. The spatted nose gear was replaced by a wheel fairing, as was the main gear. An increased vertical stabilizer area and revised

wing tip A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

s were also tested.

Specifications (Cessna XMC prototype)

References

External links

Cessna 1014 XMC photo

Cessna 1034 XMC photo
{{Cessna 1970s United States experimental aircraft Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States Aircraft first flown in 1971 XMC Ducted fan-powered aircraft High-wing aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Twin-boom aircraft