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| Aviatika MAI 89 ‘Baby MIG’ |
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The Moscow Aviation Institute MAI-89 single-seat aircraft is an open-cockpit sport biplane powered by a Rotax 582 engine driving a pusher prop. It was designed to the highest aeronautical standards by the same people and in the same factory in Moscow that produced the Russian MIG29 supersonic fighter. The aircraft is has a good power-to-weight ratio, slow stall speed and powerful controls making it extremely safe and easy to fly.
The airframe structure is mainly aluminium, with aircraft grade ‘ceconite’ fabric covering the wings. The main landing gear is made from solid titanium, one of the strongest and lightest materials available. Many of the components are ‘off the shelf’ Jet Fighter parts.
The engine is a 65 HP Rotax 2-stroke 2-cylinder water-cooled unit which burns ordinary unleaded petrol mixed with 2-stroke oil. Consumption is around 20 litres an hour. These engines have been used around the world in Snowmobiles, go-karts and microlight aircraft.
This is an extremely rare aircraft, one of only a handful airworthy in the world and probably the only one currently flying outside Russia. This particular aircraft was manufactured in 1991 as a one of a series of prototypes. It was exported to the West from the manufacturer without an engine or instruments. The aircraft was assembled and covered in Ireland and an engine & propeller and instruments fitted.
The aircraft is painted to resemble its near-relative the MIG 29 fighter that came from the same ‘stable’. It was flown for a few years before being ‘mothballed’ in Newcastle just South of Bray. It is currently based on a farm strip near Limerick and frequently used to find lost animals!
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© 2007-2011
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