The Best Four-Seat Airplane Ever Built? 

Can I ask did he make his living as a pilot after the war. I am always amazed how many WW2 pilots came home but never flew commercially, Fro e.g. President George Bush

I owned a Grumman Cheetah AA-5A. It had a sliding canopy that you could fly it open as long as you were under 80 knots. It was a lot of fun and very affordable.

Cool experience. I think you need P51 time to step up to the meyers.

I had a Meyers OTW 160. Amazing aircraft. Never had an AD written on it. Not many aircraft can make that claim.

@@davidgrainger5994 Don't you still have it, Dave? And Happy New Year, by the way!

Thanks for the feedback and your experience with the Meyers. Yes, I spoke to Dean, in fact he suggested I produce a video on the Meyers and knowing very little about it, I figured it would be a great way to learn about an aircraft myself. Coincidentally there's a local one to me based at KFXE and I had a chance to step inside last month.

@@aircraftadventures-vids I last talked to Dean at Oshkosh this year, great guy. I have the names of guys who are involved with the Meyers owners club. I saw them a couple of years ago at their "convention" in Sedona. The Meyers 200D I flew was 30 years ago. It was a 175 kt bird but handling was a bit heavy in pitch as it has a small rudder and short 30' wing that has a roll in it towards the tip, I guess for stall characteristics. But its built like a tank, maybe better. My V35B at 11,500' at 59% power (2400X20 inches) and 3,000 pounds I indicate 148 kts in my V35B which is a true 175-176kts on 12.5 gph. Hard to beat that. That's rich of peak, by the way.

Im thinking that 3D printing may well solve the problem of rare parts. Eventually 3D printing will custom fabrication

@@johnypitman2368 That's a good idea but the parts have to be "certified" or PMA for the aircraft, i believe.

You think a Bonanza flies better than a Meyers?!?!?!? By what metric, I’m curious?

That understandable with the bubble canopy. I didn’t know much till I researched it.

At first i thought it was a Navion! Oops... 😂

Thanks you!!

My hometown! Sad the airport is closed now would have loved to been able to land there

would have been neat to see the Meyers reunion/fly-ins back in the 1990s.

I’ve owned two Meyers 200s and have 1500 hours flying mine and 18 others. I’ve also got around 100 hours flying Navions. The Meyers is just as easy to fly as a Navion or any other high speed complex aircraft.

They are instant classics for sure. Both great planes.

Glad to introduce it to you! I knew very little myself till I started my research on them.

Thanks! 🙏

Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks! I barely knew anything about it till I researched for the video. In love now

Flybys are the best!

Awesome, thank you for the kind feedback! Am working on improving voiceovers on each video.

First of all thank you for your kind feedback! And thanks for sharing your rich experiences, that must have been a treat to visit the plant. As far as the 400, that does make sense but I have never read such an account. The number of those who have flown it is definately finite so not sure if there's any written account. Turboprop Navion? That's like sticking a Ferrari V12 in a VW Bug!

@@aircraftadventures-vids I think something like that was done for the movie Herbie the Love Bug.

The Spartan Executive IS the best looking Single Engine aircraft of all time!! Period.

@@goneflying140 It's a looker, but my vote goes for the Beech 17 Staggerwing.

@@Paladin1873 The Staggerwing is another one of those great classic aircraft!! Good choice.

Hell yes it is

Thanks for watching

It really is!

My thought too!

I went a little overboard with the p51 reference but it was a tongue in cheek comment. Tx for the feedback.

I had an opportunity to fly a Meyers commander when the owner of one inadvertently landed on the parallel taxiway. Later, I noticed that the airport sheriff was looking over the Mayers in transient parking. Being curious I enquired the officer and was told that the pilot of this aircraft landed on the taxiway and did not comply with the control towers request to call them. The sheriff left a note on the door. Stating that the aircraft has been impounded and any attempt to fly it will constitute a crime. Later that afternoon I noticed someone else fooling with the Meyers. I approached the visibly shaken man reading the note left by the sheriff and asked him what seemed to be the problem? He explained the contents of the note left by the sheriff and continued to say that his home was 150 mi away. Since I worked at the airport I invited him to use the phone at the flying club that I was a flight instructor for. He gratefully accepted and called the sheriff's dept, and his wife. The sheriff FORBID him from flying his airplane as the investigation was on going. The pilot exchanged information with the deputy. The pilot explained the situation. He explained that he had no way to get home. I explained that I could fly him home. Which I did. During the flight home, he confessed to his error, and that his medical had been expired for sometime. Upon landing, he gave me the keys and showed the maintenance logs showing that the aircraft was legal to fly. Although, he was not. And would I please fly his airplane back when it was released by the sheriff. I agreed to do it at no charge as with the flight we just finished. He said I can share in the expenses. Which I refused, I said you've already had a tough day. So, my treat. I did however, with his permission did several takeoffs and landings to a full stop, and basic airwork with a full stall series to familiarize myself in all configurations. The Meyers is a terrific handling aircraft! A few days later the sheriff called me and released the aircraft to my custody only after examining my credentials. All worked out in end. All in all, flying the Meyers Commander was a unique and enjoyable experience.

@@lanceyarwood3132 That was a very interesting post. My time in the Meyers 200 also resulted from being a CFI. Debbie Gary, who used to fly formation aerobatics with Jim Holland, then later was the demo pilot for the BD Silver Bullet Jet, was also on our staff. One day she told me the owner of the M200 needed a BFR and that she would give me a checkout in the airplane if I would handle it. So off we went and subsequently I got with the owner and spent an afternoon taking him through the BFR. N196M was the only M200 in our local area and I considered myself fortunate to have the opportunity to fly this nice airplane. The owner was a WWII vet who enjoyed flying a high performance airplane. He handled it well and as I recall, flew it for several years and never had any problems with it. During the checkout Debbie mentioned that with 285 hp up front it could run out of right rudder with a left crosswind on takeoff unless you opened the throttle smoothly. We both were experienced enough that keeping the nose on the centerline for takeoff was one of many ingrained skills so that was not an issue. Debbie had her own Decathlon and often flew a Pitts S-2A in airshows.

Glad you enjoyed it

Thanks!

We have to put this in context of when this was built, a 50s design.

Sure is

Would LOVE to see those if you don't mind sharing. Shoot an email to richard@e-sense.tv

I would be glad to if I can locate them.@@aircraftadventures-vids

Thanks for sharing your experience, it’s a rare bird

I know! I'm kicking myself for this silly mistake, but too late now. Could have been worse and said Alaska, I guess.

Tecumseh,WI, isn't that where the Tecumseh airmen from WWiI were based?😂😅😊

@@goneflying140 I think you are the thinking about the Tuskegee airmen. They were based in Tuskegee, Alabama.

@@asquare9316 My comment was a joke based on the Tecumseh, WI phraze in the video...

Hey Bill! I also lived across from Meyers Airport back when. My family moved there in 1959 and lived on River Acres Dr., until my dad died in 2008. Before that we lived in Macon, MI. As a Cub Scout I toured the Meyers factory. Meyers went on to manufacturing boats, canoes, and Jeep CJ tops. I don't know when they stopped making the Jeep tops. But recall having worked (1977) at Central Transport (Adrian terminal), shipping them (when Yellow Freight, Meyers primary shipper, was on strike). I graduated from Tecumseh High School in 1968. Do you remember when the skydiver landed through the powerlines, and died?

I had a brand new G.. in '68.. 174 mph @ 6,500 ft on 8.8 gallons 80 octane. wish I still had it.

Try the AirSkeg 👍

Well, sort of good news. I’m doing a video on the SF260. Not as hot as a Falco but far more successful. And the Falco will def be featured in the video.

@@aircraftadventures-vids Awesome I can't wait

@@aircraftadventures-vids SF260 will leave a Falco F8 in the dust!

Merry Christmas right back at ya! Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm also keeping that joke (just hope I don't forget it)

Both are tough planes. Navion's more spacious as I understand it (VERY spacious in fact) but the Meyers is much faster, especially with the IO-520 or 550. But the Navion's a fine plane indeed, and of course more well know.

Thanks! 🙏

Thank you Juan!

It was a process in education for myself as well. Never really knew much about it till I did my homework

Glad you liked it!

The “piggi” is a favorite of mine. Especially because it carries the amazing GO480.

Not sure, tbh

I personally find the 112/114 beautiful looking, albeit quite boxier than the Meyers. Especially that tall cruciform tail looks terrific. Planes don't have to be round to look good in my book (Trinidad another example)

Yes they are good looking planes and very roomy. Same issue the Navion had, slow for the horsepower.

@@johnmajane3731lol¡l LlP

Yup, me too till I started researching about it.

Arghh…always messing up something. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

I'm not partial, I'm 100%! Love the 337, and my dad who at one time was a Cessna salesman, told me it was his favorite twin as well.

Glad you enjoyed it

Why so low? Because they demolished it? 😂

Unique design that enhanced the trim tail.

You bet!

The new video I'm working is an aircraft more directly comparable to the Lancair IV. Stay tuned...

It sure is!

Wow!! That's a real unicorn for sure.

Some people like Subaru instead of BMW.

I've read the Rockwells are pretty stout actually, but the main idea was that they were profitable (cheaper to build).

There are sacrifices to be made with mass production and I'm not sure they'd be able to keep it the same if it were cheap to produce. (look up what Piper did to the Comanche, for example)

Yes,i like the little 145,if they could replicate that in glass fibre would be a seller on looks alone.

Sebring? One of them might be based near me at KFXE.

Totally agree

I am seriously sorry, please forgive my unthinkable error.

Yes! Tecumseh, Michigan.

Loved my new G. Flew new ones for dealers.

It may have looked like a Navion which has been around actually since the 1940s, but it had a much cleaner airframe, much less wetted surface and a much better wing which creates and is responsible for most of the drag on an airplane. That's why the Meyers was about 40 knots faster. Yeah, it is certainly in the top 5 (along with the Comanche and Bonanza), but it cost too much to build and it had other issues like four separate 20 gallon fuel tanks and one gauge and you could only draw from one at a time, the cabin door had issues and other recurring maintenance. And perhaps the biggest issue was its limited payload, it had a certified gross weight of just 3,000 pounds. Rockwell was in the process of raising that to 3,350 pounds, but the paperwork was never completed. The 200D was essentially a two passenger airplane.

That seems to be the consensus among owners and pilots, but most seem to be content either flying solo or just 2-up anyways.

@@aircraftadventures-vids The solution to the 3,000 pound GW limit for a lot of Meyers owners is to ignore it "slightly." The aircraft had gone through all the testing for the higher gross weight, it just was a paperwork issue to get it raised from what I understand.

@@larryweitzman5163 Thanks for that. It's a type I'd never heard of until I came across this video. A shame no one ever stepped up to put it into series prroduction, it deserves to be much more popular.

@@mothmagic1 Your welcome. It was expensive to build, but today a PA-28 or C172 is expensive. One thing about the Meyers that I never liked was the look of the nose bowl. And a Bonanza is only a little better. Never liked the Meyers cooling duct.

Very valid question...maybe you need to buy 3?

@@aircraftadventures-vids Probably. LOL!!

Every single spare part is fabricated by order and the airplane is most likely grounded for most time of the year while you are waiting for the part🤷‍♂️

Actually that was sort of the restart of the Meyers 145. It was called Micco Sp20, interesting plane but it’s timeline doesn’t really intersect with the meyers 200

And, the Meyers 145 and 200 are entirely different Type Certificates, owned by different people. They do share the same wing center section, and same wing design, but that’s about it.

@@aircraftadventures-vids Ah, Thanks! I did not realize that the SP20 was not the same as the 200. Only saw one example and that was at the Dayton Airshow around 1988.

I don’t disagree on the cliches but hey whose to argue if you love the plane, lol. As to the Rockwell, yeah that was pretty mind-boggling. As I understand it, the bean counters weren’t involved in the decision till they took notice the numbers weren’t making any sense.

Because Aero Commander wanted to do assembly line, high volume production they had to create all new jigs and tooling. And, to this day, both sets of jigs and tooling still exist (the original, low volume production versions and the Aero Commander versions).

@@deansiracusa3966 thanks for passing through, Dean! 👍

Long time ago, I did too.

I know, am kicking myself over that, lol

No Cirrus or Velocity in 1958, Mooney's were just coming out but no comparison either (except for being much more efficient fuel-wise).

You’ve clearly never flown one. I’ve flown many Cirrus’s, Mooneys, and even modern experimental aircraft such as Lancairs and Velocity’s. The Meyers was way ahead of the others in its era and flies much more like a modern plane than you’d ever expect. Better even!

Yeah that canopy can do it.

I know, I've been informed 10x already (and deservingly). As to payload, not 100% sure but it is limited compared to other similar models. Rockwell was seeking to increase it but that never happened.

What happened?

If a cat looks just like a dog, I suppose yeah

I love the Piaggio 149 “piggi”. But it’s a different plane, at least 20kts slower on the same power.

@@aircraftadventures-vids Is the range close

The P149 is a much bigger airplane in all dimensions, and closer to a Navion. And though they may look similar, the Navion, P149, and Meyers are very different from each other in design and construction.

@@deansiracusa3966 I thought that , the Piaggio os larger and heavier, this accounts

This accounts for the slower speed, the Piaggio is also built stronger. The Myers may be smaller, faster, lighter, but not better. The Myers is a copy