Flight, May 1934

THE MAILLET-NENING MONOPLANE
A fast French three-seater

   CONSTRUCTED by M. Maillet and M. Nening, chief pilot and chief engineer respectively of the Roland Garros Aero Club, this recently completed aircraft, known as the M.N., possesses, as the result of very clean aerodynamic design and the installation of a modern type of inverted engine giving about 200 h.p., quite a remarkable performance.
   The Maillet-Nening monoplane is of special interest at the present time, for, as Mr. Percival intends to install a "Gipsy Six" engine in the "Gull," an interesting comparison may be made between the "Gull" with that engine and this new French machine, which has an engine of approximately the same power as the "Gipsy Six." Both machines are three-seater low-wing cabin monoplanes with fixed undercarriage.
   The engine fitted is a Regnier six-cylinder inverted air-cooled type, which is virtually a de Havilland "Gipsy III" with two cylinders added. Normal power at 2,150 r.p.m. is 190 h.p. and the maximum power at 2,450 r.p.m. is 220 h.p.
   Although it is not yet possible to quote performance figures of the "Gipsy Six" engined "Gull," it is expected that the cruising speed will be fully 160 m.p.h., which is 5 m.p.h. higher than that of the Maillet-Nening. Probably the top speeds will be approximately the same.
   At present a conventional type of split undercarriage is fitted to the Maillet-Nening. If a retractable or a cantilever "trousered" version were to be fitted, we do not doubt that the speed would be considerably higher. We recall that when the well-faired but fixed split type undercarriages of certain low-wing "Lockheed" types were abandoned for retractable versions, quite an amazing increase in performance was obtained.
   The wing area of the French machine is larger than that of the "Gull," but even so the landing speed seems extraordinarily low for a machine of this type.
   We understand that shortly the machine will be flown to Saigon by M. Maillet and M. Ringel, a pilot of Air-France.