The Miles M.4A Merlin was a 1930s

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

five-seat cabin monoplane built by Miles Aircraft Limited.

Design and development

The Merlin was designed by F.G. Miles of

Philips and Powis Miles was the name used between 1943 and 1947 to market the aircraft of British engineer Frederick George Miles, who, with his wife – aviator and draughtswoman Maxine Blossom Miles, Maxine "Blossom" Miles (née Forbes-Robertson) – and his br ...

, as a result of collaboration with G. Birkett of Birkett Air Service Ltd, and Tata Sons Ltd of India. It was based on the three-seat and four-seat versions of the M.3 Falcon, but with wider fuselage and consequent increased wing span. It was a low-wing monoplane, with fixed main undercarriage in trouser fairings plus a fixed tailwheel. Construction was mainly of wood, with spruce frames and three-ply birch covering, and the wings had hydraulically operated split flaps. It was powered by a 200 hp

de Havilland Gipsy Six The de Havilland Gipsy Six is a British six-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline piston engine developed by the de Havilland Engine Company for aircraft use in the 1930s. It was based on the cylinders of the four-cylinder Gipsy Major and w ...

piston engine. It was first designated M.4 Merlin, but all four examples were completed as M.4A Merlin, with fixed pitch propeller instead of the intended variable pitch unit.Brown 1970, pp. 87-88Jackson 1988, pp. 57-58Flight, 4 April 1935, pp. 351-353
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Operational history

On 11 May 1935, the prototype (U-8, later G-ADFE), built by

(Miles Aircraft), first flew at

Woodley Aerodrome Woodley is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Wokingham, Berkshire, England, east of Reading and joined to the neighbouring town of Earley, to the west, and from Wokingham. Nearby are the villages of Sonning, Twyford, Winnersh, Hurs ...

, piloted by F.G. Miles. A few weeks later, the Merlin was delivered to Birkett Air Service, for its air taxi and charter business based at

Heston Aerodrome Heston Aerodrome was an airfield located to the west of London, England, operational between 1929 and 1947. It was situated on the border of the Heston and Cranford areas of Hounslow, Middlesex. In September 1938, the British Prime Minister, Ne ...

. Two aircraft were built and delivered to Tata Sons Ltd for its Tata Air Lines service on the

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

route. The fourth and final Merlin was delivered to E. Chaseling of

Victorian and Interstate Airways Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, for its

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...

service. In 1940, the Australian Merlin was pressed into service with the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

Operators

; *Victoria and Interstate Airways *

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

; * Tata Air Lines ; *Birkett Air Services MMerlin

Specifications (M.4A)

Notes

Bibliography

* Amos, Peter. and Brown, Don Lambert. ''Miles Aircraft Since 1925, Volume 1''. Putnam, 2000. . * Brown, Don Lambert. ''Miles Aircraft Since 1925''. Putnam, 1970. . * ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985)''. Orbis Publishing. * Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft since 1919''. Putnam, 1974. . * Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft since 1919, Volume 3''. Putnam, 1988. . * Lukins, A.H. and Russell, D.A. ''The book of Miles aircraft''. Harborough 1945. {{ADF aircraft designations 1930s British airliners

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...