Light Miniature Aircraft was an American

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology indust ...

based in

Okeechobee, Florida Okeechobee ( ) is a city in south-central Florida and is the county seat of Okeechobee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 5,254. It is the county seat of Okeechobee County. The Lake Okee ...

. The company specialized in the design of ultralight aircraft and supplied plans for amateur construction.Downey, Julia: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 55. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Downey, Julia: ''2008 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 24, Number 12, December 2007, page 60. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page B-38. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 197. BAI Communications. The company seems to have gone out of business about 2010, but Wicks Aircraft continues to provide kits for the designs.

Products

The company's LM-1, 2 and 3 family of aircraft were designed in the mid-1980s during the initial ultralight boom. At the time many pilots did not find the typical early "flying lawnchair" ultralights confidence inspiring or appealing. The company's designs were intended to fit the same FAR Part 103 rules, including its empty weight, but provide aircraft that look and fly like a traditional

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft co ...

. However, many of the designs result in completed aircraft that are heavier than the US ultralight rule empty weight limit. The LM-1 family of designs are built from wood, or optionally 4130 steel tube and finished with doped aircraft fabric covering. The completion involves minor changes in the cowling, window and tail shapes to make them resemble well-known light aircraft designs. The first in the series, the LM-1 is a single seat 75-85% scale replica of a

Piper J-3 Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is Pi ...

and was first flown in 1985. The LM-2 is a single or two seat 75% scale replica of a

Taylorcraft B The Taylorcraft B is an American light, single-engine, high-wing general aviation monoplane, with two seats in side-by-side configuration, that was built by the Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation of Alliance, Ohio.The Pittsburgh PressMove Sta ...

, while the LM-3 is a single seat 75% scale replica of an

Aeronca Champ The Aeronca Model 7 Champion, commonly known as the "Champ", or "Airknocker",Bellanca Aircraft Corp, " d: "The Champ only $4,995"" ''Flying Annual & Pilots' Guide,'' 1971 ed., pp.36–37 iff-Davis NY is a single-engine light airplane with a ...

. The follow-on Light Miniature Aircraft LM-5 is a full-sized

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

two-seat replica of the

Piper PA-18 Super Cub The Piper PA-18 Super Cub is a two-seat, single-engine monoplane. Introduced in 1949 by Piper Aircraft, it was developed from the PA-11 Cub Special, and traces its lineage back through the J-3 Cub to the Taylor E-2 Cub of the 1930s. In close ...

. The LM-J3-W is a full-sized two-seat J-3 Cub replica, while the LM-TC-W is a full-sized two-seats in

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

Taylorcraft replica, both rendered in wood and fabric.

Aircraft

References

External links

* - previous location
Company website archives
on

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{Light Miniature Aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft