Country of origin:

Australia

Description:

Four-seat cabin monoplane

Power Plant:

One 157 kw (210 hp) Rolls Royce / Continental IO-360-D six-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

The Aircruiser was a low-wing, fixed tricycle undercarriage, four-seat aircraft of light alloy all-metal construction designed by Henry Millicer. Mr Millicer was born in Poland on 11 June 1915 as Henryk Kazimierz Militzer and, prior to World War II, was involved in the design of aircraft at the National Aircraft Establishment (Panstwowe Zaklady Lotnicze).  He was a member of the Polish Air Force reserve and won the Polish Air Force Cross.  Following the German advance on Poland he escaped to England where he flew bombers with RAF Squadrons, completing 17 missions, and was awarded the Military Medal for service.  After the war he worked with Airspeed, and later Percival Aircraft.  He migrated to Australia in 1950 and became chief aerodynamicist at the Government Aircraft Factory, working on the Jindivik target aircraft and Malkara missile.

Mr Millcer designed the Airtourer for Victa Aircraft and later designed the Aircruiser.  Similar in appearance to the Airtourer, it was a completely new design. With four seats and a roomy cockpit, it was built for the business commuter or touring roles.  The design retained the well-known Victa flying characteristics of docility, high manoeuvrability with simplicity of structure, ease of maintenance, and good cruising performance.  The original design incorporated a 134 kw (180 hp) engine, but this was changed to the 157 kw (210 hp) engine before completion of the prototype.

The prototype, and only aircraft of the type completed (VH-MVR), was flown for the first time on 17 July 1966.  Accommodation was provided for four persons, with a conventional door fitted on the left side of the cockpit.  A luggage compartment was situated behind the rear seats, and it was accessible both from inside and out. The luggage door, situated on the left side of the fuselage, was able to serve as an escape hatch if required.

In 1966 the Australian Tariff Board heard an application by Victa and other Australian aircraft manufacturers for bounties to be placed on imported aircraft, or for assistance for the Australian Aviation Industry, against the import of overseas-built aircraft. Support was received from the Royal Federation of Australian Aero Clubs, and strenuously opposed by overseas interests.  In its report the Board said that, if developed commercially, Victa’s Aircruiser would compare favourably with aeroplanes made by the world’s established manufacturers. However, the application was rejected, and it is now well-known history that the Australian industry could not compete and that the Aircruiser and Airtourer designs were sold to Aero Engine Services Ltd in New Zealand.

Production of the Airtourer continued in New Zealand, and the Aircruiser was developed into the CT-4 Airtrainer, which was supplied to, amongst other air forces, the RAAF as its standard trainer, and also in some numbers to the British Airways/Ansett School at Tamworth, NSW for pilot training, where it was operated for some years.

Following type certification in 1968, the Aircruiser was flown in Australia for twelve months before being taken to New Zealand, along with the production jigs etc, where it became ZK-DAH in December 1969.  In 1979 it returned to Australia, where it was refurbished, has since been owned by the President of the Airtourer Association, and was flown as VH-MVR again, being registered as an Aircruiser 210CS (c/n 701) and being based on the far south New South Wales coast.

In later years Henry Millicer re-designed the Aircruiser using newer technology and plans were put in train to produce the new type, along with a re-designed and up-dated Airtourer, as the MAI Shrike at a facility in Victoria.  This aircraft was to have a 150 kw (200 hp) Lycoming IO-360-A1A engine and was based on the Aircruiser, full ownership rights to the Australian type certificate being obtained by Millicer Aircraft Industries Pty Ltd of Sale, VIC.  Plans initially were to complete and fly the MA-9-200 Shrike in early 1998 but construction was put back pending placement into production of the new Airtourer.

The production schedule for the Shrike was for 14 aircraft to be completed in 1999, and 28 in 2000.  Later plans were for the new design name to be changed to Aircruiser.  It was to be available with either dual stick or dual yoke controls as a factory fitted option.  Certification was to be in the utility category as a four-seater and with the ability to perform limited aerobatics with two persons on board.  Advertising stated that, although structurally and aero dynamically capable of being fully aerobatic at reduced weight, it could not be certificated as only one cabin door was fitted.  In the event only two Airtourers were completed and, due to financial difficulties, the Shrike was not built.  Mr Millicer passed away in 1996 and later Millicer Aircraft Industries closed down.

In early 2006 Air Ag Aviation Services of Bankstown, NSW announced it had obtained the Type Certificate and production rights to the Aircruiser from the administrators of Millicer Aircraft, and planned to manufacture a re-designed Aircruiser at a new facility at the Illawarra Regional Airport at Albion Park, NSW, the plan being to offer the aircraft in factory-built or kit form.  Powerplants proposed included the 156 kw (210 hp) Continental IO-360, and a FADEC-equipped diesel.

These plans seem to have been put on hold as Brumby Aircraft of Cowra, NSW obtained rights to the design and in 2013 announced it proposed to put the aircraft into production in due course after re-designing the aircraft to meet more modern construction methods, it being indicated at the time that some parts may be built in China.  It has also been indicated the aircraft would be offered with a turboprop engine.