The Aerocar Mini-IMP (Independently Made Plane) is a light aircraft designed by

Moulton Taylor Moulton B. "Molt" Taylor (September 29, 1912 – November 16, 1995) was an American aeronautical engineer famed for his work designing, developing, and manufacturing on a small scale one of the first practical flying cars, the Aerocar. Life a ...

and marketed for homebuilding by

Aerocar International Aerocar International was a roadable aircraft manufacturer, founded by Moulton Taylor in Longview, Washington. Work continued until the late 1960s, when changing legislation made Taylor's designs impractical. Aircraft * Aerocar I (1949) – S ...

. It is a scaled-down derivative of his original

Aerocar IMP __NOTOC__ The Aerocar IMP (for Independently Made Plane) was an unconventional light aircraft designed by Moulton Taylor and marketed for homebuilding. The IMP and its various derivatives were developed by Taylor's Aerocar business after he had ...

design. A two-seat version called the Bullet was also built. The Mini-IMP follows the same unconventional layout as its larger predecessor, with a center mounted engine, long driveshaft to a tail propeller, and inverted-V rudder/elevators. The aircraft is available in the form of plans for amateur construction. Following Taylor's death, the plans and licensing for the Mini-IMP have been marketed by the Mini-IMP Aircraft Company of

Weatherford, Texas Weatherford ( ) is a city and the county seat of Parker County, Texas, United States. In 2020, its population was 30,854. Weatherford is named after Thomas J. Weatherford, a State senator and advocate for Texas’ secession to the Confederate S ...

.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011–12'', page 111. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015–16'', page 117. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 61. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851

Design and development

The aircraft features a cantilever

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 ...

, a single-seat enclosed cockpit, fixed or retractable

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 ...

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 Ter ...

and 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 no ...

. The aircraft is made from riveted

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 h ...

sheet. Its span wing is mounted well behind the pilot and employs a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

GA(PC)-1

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 tur ...

. The engine is mounted behind the pilot's seat driving the propeller through an extension shaft. Engines used include the

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 co ...

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either direct ...

. Taylor claimed the Mini-IMP was not an original design, but an updated version of the 1912 Edison Doladay Bullet, a design that was capable of 110 mph in the earliest days of flight. In the late 1970s inquiries were made concerning a military version of the Mini-IMP, skinned with

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s ...

, armed with two 7.62-millimeter machine guns, and with room in the baggage compartment for a considerable quantity of ammunition. Nothing came of the proposal.Jane's Information Group. Jane's All The World's Aircraft, 1981–1982 edition.

Specifications (typical Mini-IMP)

References

External links

* {{Aerocar aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft 1970s United States civil utility aircraft Mini-IMP High-wing aircraft

Design and development

Specifications (typical Mini-IMP)

See also

References

External links