The Mitchell Wing B-10 is an American

high-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing conf ...

, open cockpit, single-seat, tailless,

ultralight aircraft Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and Aircraft flight control system, conventional three-a ...

and

motor glider A motor glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power. The FAI Gliding Commission Sporting Code definition is: a fixed-wing aerodyne equipped with a means of propulsion (MoP), capable of sustained soaring flight ...

designed by Don Mitchell and based on his Mitchell Wing hang-glider. It has been produced by a variety of companies in the form of kits and plans for amateur construction.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 138. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XJohn W. Taylor (ed.); ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1908-81''. pp.530-1. It first flew in 1980. In 2012 the aircraft was still available in the form of plans and some materials, offered by US Pacific of

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

Design and development

The Mitchell Wing started off as a foot-launched hang glider with good soaring performance. Mitchell later modified the design into a powered

with wheeled

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle ...

, known as the B-10. The B-10F is a foot-launched variant with only two wheels. The B-10 was designed to comply with the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of . The aircraft has a standard empty weight of . The B-10's

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

is made from

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

tubing while the wing has a

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' cont ...

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

D-cell leading edge and foam

ribs The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels. The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...

, covered with

Dacron Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and fo ...

sailcloth or doped

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

. The tailless wing is common to all three variants. It is of tapered and lightly-swept form, employing a NACA 23015

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbin ...

. It has a span of span wing, area of , aspect ratio of 8:1. The outboard wing panels have 6 degrees of dihedral and the wing overall has 12 degrees of sweep. The controls are conventional three axis, comprising trailing

elevon Elevons or tailerons are aircraft control surfaces that combine the functions of the elevator (used for pitch control) and the aileron (used for roll control), hence the name. They are frequently used on tailless aircraft such as flying wings. A ...

s and

wing tip A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

mounted vertical

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

s, and operated via a top-mounted

centre stick A centre stick (or center stick in the United States), or simply control stick is an aircraft cockpit arrangement where the control column (or joystick) is located in the center of the cockpit between the pilots or between the pilot's legs. Sinc ...

. Power is provided by a single engine in

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in n ...

, mounted behind the pilot's seat. Small engines in the range can be used: The prototype was fitted with a McCulloch MC101, with Chrysler West Bend and McCulloch two-strokes being recommended. and the Zenoah G-25 of has been fitted. Construction time for the supplied plans is estimated at 500 hours. The B-10 can be quickly disassembled for ground transport or storage. The outer wing panels fold or can be removed, the fuselage cage is detachable and the tip rudders are quickly removed. The B-10 was subsequently developed into the A-10 and two-seat T-10 and the mid-wing Mitchell U-2 Superwing.

Aircraft on display

* US Southwest Soaring Museum

Specifications (B-10)

References

External links

* {{Don Mitchell aircraft 1980s United States sailplanes Homebuilt aircraft Don Mitchell aircraft Tailless aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1980 Motor gliders Single-engined pusher aircraft

Design and development

Aircraft on display

Specifications (B-10)

See also

References

External links