Interceptor 400
{{Infobox aircraft
|name = Interceptor 400
|image =
|caption =
|type = Light aircraft
|national_origin =
|manufacturer = Interceptor Corporation
|designer =
|first_flight = 27 June 1969
|introduction =
|retired =
|status =
|primary_user =
|more_users =
|produced =
|number_built = 1
|program cost =
|unit cost =
|developed_from = Aero Commander 200
|variants =
}}
The Interceptor 400 was a turboprop-powered single-engined light aircraft developed from the Meyers 200 single-engine piston plane.{{cite journal|journal=Air Progress|date=December 1971|page=19}} It attracted buyers but was unable to obtain adequate manufacturing financing, and was perhaps too far ahead of its time. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, at the time of its development, the market for single-engined turboprops was still a decade away.
Design and development
Development of the aircraft commenced when Lymon Lyon approached Aero Commander to build him a one-off modification of the 200, to be powered by a turboprop. His request came just as Aero Commander was realizing that the 200 piston engine aircraft was not economically viable in volumes they sought, and instead, offered to sell Lyon the 200 type certificate and work that Aero Commander had begun on a turbine engine conversion model 400 instead. Lyon and a group of investors assembled by entrepreneur and merger and acquisition expert Thomas W Itin, then formed the Interceptor Corporation to develop and market the 400 turbine engine version, the Interceptor 400 aircraft.
The plant was moved from the Aero Commander site in Albany, Georgia, to Norman, Oklahoma, where the engineering was completed for the Interceptor 400 type certificate
Its first flight was on June 27, 1969, and certification was obtained in 1971. However, without adequately funded buyers, major Interceptor investor Paul Luce eventually took possession of the company's intellectual property and the prototype Interceptor 400 when the firm could not repay capital he had loaned it. The rights were then owned by Prop-Jets Inc, in which Luce maintained a 50% stake. Later Prop-Jets changed its name to Interceptor Aircraft Company, with Mr. Luce no longer being involved. There is one Interceptor 400 plane still registered and still flying.
A militarized version, the Interceptor I400-M reached at least the planning stage. It was envisaged for a wide variety of roles, including training, reconnaissance, Forward Air Control, and Counterinsurgency, as well as general utility duties.
On May 22, 2014, Global Parts Group, of Augusta, Kansas, announced they had acquired the type certificate of the Interceptor 400 and the Meyers 200 aircraft models.{{cite web|url = http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Meyers-Revival-Eyed222041-1.html|title = Meyers Revival Eyed|publisher=Avweb|first=Russ|last=Niles|date=May 22, 2014|accessdate = 27 May 2014}} The Global Parts Group formed a separate affiliate company, Interceptor Aviation Inc., for the ownership of the type certificate, along with all assets and intellectual property related to both the Interceptor 400 and Meyers 200 type designs. The aircraft design and tooling were discovered in storage in a barn on a farm in Wichita, Kansas.{{cite news|url=https://www.flyingmag.com/interceptor-400-barn-discovery/|work=Flying|title= Turboprop Aircraft, Design and Tooling Discovered in Kansas Barn|first=Rob|last=Mark|date=October 28, 2019 |accessdate=October 29, 2019}}
Specifications (Interceptor 400)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1971–72Taylor 1971, p. 324.
|prime units?=imp
|genhide=
|crew=1
|capacity=3 passengers
|length m=
|length ft=26
|length in=11+1/2
|span m=
|span ft=30
|span in=6
|height m=
|height ft=
|height in=
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=161.5
|aspect ratio=5.81:1
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=2300
|gross weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=4005
|fuel capacity=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Garrett TPE331-1-101
|eng1 type=turboprop
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=
|eng1 shp=400
|prop blade number=3
|prop name=Hartzell
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=7
|prop dia in=2
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=257
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=at {{convert|16000|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|never exceed speed mph=300
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=281
|cruise speed kts=
|stall speed mph=69
|stall speed note=(flaps and landing gear lowered)
|range km=
|range miles=1000
|range nmi=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=24000
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=2000
|climb rate note=(at least)
|more performance=
|avionics=
}}
See also
{{aircontent
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
- List of aircraft of World War II
- List of aircraft of Japan during World War II
- List of single-engined turboprop aircraft
}}
References
{{reflist}}
- Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1971–72. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co, 1971. {{ISBN|0-354-00094-2}}.
External links
- [http://www.meyersaircraft.com/ Meyers Aircraft Home Page]
- [http://www.meyersmovement.com Meyers Aircraft Owner Community by Type Certificate and OEM assets holder, Global Parts Group, Inc.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709015412/http://meyersmovement.com/ |date=2015-07-09 }}
- [http://airbum.com/pireps/PirepInterceptor400.html Aviation Journalist Bud Davisson's review of the Interceptor 400]
Category:1960s United States civil utility aircraft
Category:Single-engined turboprop aircraft
Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft
Category:Aircraft first flown in 1969