The Interceptor 400 was a
turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
-powered single-engined light aircraft developed from the
Meyers 200
The Meyers 200 is a single-engined light aircraft produced in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s.
Design
It was the brainchild of Al Meyers and was a development of his Meyers MAC-145 design. The holder of a number of speed records in i ...
single engine piston plane. It attracted buyers but was unable to obtain adequate manufacturing financing, and was perhaps too far ahead of its time. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, at the time of its development, the market for single-engined turboprops was still a decade away.
Design and development
Development of the aircraft commenced when
Lymon Lyon approached
Aero Commander
Aero Commander was an aircraft manufacturer formed in 1944. In subsequent years, it became a subsidiary of Rockwell International and Gulfstream Aerospace. The company ceased aircraft production in 1986.
History
Aero was formed in Culver City, ...
to build him a one-off modification of the 200, to be powered by a turboprop. His request came just as Aero Commander was realizing that the 200 piston engine aircraft was not economically viable in volumes they sought, and instead, offered to sell Lyon the 200
type certificate
A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...
and work that Aero Commander had begun on a turbine engine conversion model 400 instead. Lyon and a group of investors assembled by entrepreneur and merger and acquisition expert Thomas W Itin, then formed the Interceptor Corporation to develop and market the 400 turbine engine version, the Interceptor 400 aircraft.
The plant was moved from the Aero Commander site in
Albany, Georgia
Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the seat of Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in southwest Georgia, it is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia m ...
, to
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, b ...
, where the engineering was completed for the Interceptor 400 type certificate
Its first flight was on June 27, 1969,
and certification was obtained in
1971. However, without adequately funded buyers, major Interceptor investor
Paul Luce eventually took possession of the company's intellectual property and the prototype Interceptor 400 when the firm could not repay capital he had loaned it. The rights were then owned by
Prop-Jets Inc, in which Luce maintained a 50% stake. Later Prop-Jets changed its name to Interceptor Aircraft Company, with Mr. Luce no longer being involved. There is one Interceptor 400 plane still registered and still flying.
A militarized version, the Interceptor I400-M reached at least the planning stage. It was envisaged for a wide variety of roles, including
training
Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...
,
reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
,
Forward Air Control, and
Counterinsurgency
Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionari ...
, as well as general utility duties.
On May 22, 2014, Global Parts Group, of
Augusta, Kansas
Augusta is a city in Butler County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 9,256.
History
19th century
The confluence of the Whitewater River and the Walnut River was originally inhabited by Osage pe ...
, announced they had acquired the type certificate of the Interceptor 400 and the Meyers 200 aircraft models.
The Global Parts Group formed a separate affiliate company, Interceptor Aviation Inc., for the ownership of the type certificate, along with all assets and intellectual property related to both the Interceptor 400 and Meyers 200 type designs. The aircraft design and tooling were discovered in storage in a barn on a farm in Wichita, Kansas.
Specifications (Interceptor 400)
See also
References
*
Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1971–72''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co, 1971. {{ISBN, 0-354-00094-2.
External links
Meyers Aircraft Home PageMeyers Aircraft Owner Community by Type Certificate and OEM assets holder, Global Parts Group, Inc.
1960s United States civil utility aircraft
Single-engined turboprop aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1969