The Bayerische Flugzeugwerke M 18 (BFW M 18), (later known as

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

M 18) was an

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

, produced in Germany in the late 1920s.

Design and development

Designed at the request of Theodor Croneiss to supply his new airline venture which was to become '' Nordbayerische Verkehrsflug'' (NOBA), it was a conventional high-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed tailskid undercarriage. The

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

was built of wood, although production examples would have a metal structure. The design was praised in its day for the cleanness of its aerodynamics, lightness of construction, and economy of operation

Operational history

The first M 18 to enter service with NOBA was provided by Messerschmitt in exchange for a 49% share of the new company, and on 26 July it began commercial flights. NOBA's early successes enabled the company to place orders for additional examples of an improved model, the M 18b. It would eventually purchase twelve of these, but manufacturing them would exceed the capacity of Messerschmitt's own small firm, leading to a merger with Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) in 1927. Following NOBA's reorganisation into DEVAG in 1931, a small number of a further-improved version, designated M 18d, were ordered, but the type was soon superseded by the similar but larger Messerschmitt M 20.

Variants

;M 18a: three-seat production version with Siemens-Halske Sh 11 engine (two built) ;M 18b: Messerschmitt_M

three/four-seat production version with Siemens-Halske Sh 12 engine (12 built) ;M 18c: photographic survey version with Armstrong Siddeley Lynx engine (two or three built) ;M 18d: enlarged six/seven/eight-passenger version, produced with a variety of engines, including the Armstrong Siddely Lynx,

Walter Mars The Walter Mars was a Czechoslovakian 14-cylinder, air-cooled radial engine for powering aircraft, a licensed built Gnome-Rhône 14M. Applications *Focke-Wulf Fw 189Note. 204 of these airplanes were produced in the Aero Praha factory during t ...

and Wright Whirlwind. (eight built)

Operators

; *

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (german: Schweizer Luftwaffe; french: Forces aériennes suisses; it, Forze aeree svizzere; rm, Aviatica militara svizra) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914 as a part of the army and ...

Specifications (M 18d)

Notes

{{Messerschmitt aircraft 1920s German airliners M 18 Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1926