2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Miles M.28 Mercury 6 Wolves 05.51: RuthAS· CC BY 3.0
- 2. Miles M 28 Mercury OY-ALW Dansk Veteranflysamling: Joost J. Bakker from could be here· CC BY 2.0
what is it?
The Miles M.28 Mercury was a British aircraft designed to meet the need for a training and communications plane during the Second World War. It was a single-engined monoplane of wooden construction with a twin tail and a tailwheel undercarriage with retractable main units.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 9.4 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 85 years ago, in 1941.
- Top speed is 2.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 9.4 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1941-07-11
- status
- still flying
- number built
- 6
- role
- trainer & communications aircraft
- makers
- Miles Aircraft
- engines
- 1× Blackburn Cirrus Major III
- passengers
- 3
- length
- 7.3 m
- wingspan
- 9.4 m
- height
- 2.5 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,134 kg
- top speed
- 256 km/h
- cruise speed
- 245 km/h
- range
- —
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q3857865, Wikipedia: Miles Mercury (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.