The Monnett Mini, also called the Mini Messashidt, was an early
John Monnett
Sonex Aircraft, LLC is an American kit aircraft manufacturer located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, producing kits for four all-metal homebuilt monoplanes. The company was founded in 1998 by John Monnett, who has designed the Monnett Sonerai sport ai ...
modification of the Parker Jeanies Teenie.
Design and development
The Mini was based on the JT-1 with a larger chord wing, a fully enclosed cockpit and removable wings. The aircraft was all-metal low-wing single seater with
conventional landing gear
Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...
. The prototype aircraft featured a Messerschmitt paint scheme. Power came from a 1300cc
Volkswagen air-cooled engine
The Volkswagen air-cooled engine is an air-cooled, gasoline-fuelled, boxer engine with four horizontally opposed cast-iron cylinders, cast aluminum alloy cylinder heads and pistons, magnesium-alloy crankcase, and forged steel crankshaft and ...
that would be the basis for most of Monnett's future designs.
Operational history
The Mini was introduced at the
Experimental Aircraft Association
The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapt ...
airshow in 1970. Monnett was not pleased with the aircraft which demonstrated a 1400fpm descent rate power-off. Shortly thereafter built the VW-powered
Sonerai I design, introduced in 1971.
Specifications (variant specified)
See also
References
{{Monnett aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft
Monnett aircraft
1970s United States civil aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1970