Country of origin:

Australia

Description:

Four-seat single-engine business and touring monoplane

Power Plant:

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

Specifications:

History:

The Aircruiser was a low-wing, fixed-tricycle undercarriage four-seat monoplane of all-metal construction designed initially by Henry Millicer. Mr Millicer was well known for designing the Victa Airtourer and the Aircruiser. Only one example of the Aircruiser was built and it started life as VH-MVR, making its first flight on 17 July 1966. Accommodation was provided for four, with a conventional door on the left-side of the cockpit and a luggage compartment behind the rear seats.

Following the Australian Tariff Board rejection of an application by Victa Consolidated Industries, and other Australian manufacturers, for bounties to be placed on imported aircraft, and for assistance for the Australian Aviation Industry, the production of the Airtourer and development of the Aircruiser ceased. The designs were sold to Aero Engine Services Ltd in New Zealand where the Aircruiser was developed into the AESL CT-4 Airtrainer supplied to the RAAF and the British Airways / Ansett School at Tamworth, NSW as a trainer.

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 and was later operated by the President of the Airtourer Association, being flown as VH-MVR again, being registered as an Aircruiser 210CS (c/n 701), based on the New South Wales far south coast.

In later years the late 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 the construction was put back pending the placement into production of the new Airtourer. The production schedule 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 with the ability to perform limited aerobatics with two persons on board. Advertising stated that, although structurally and aerodynamically 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 died 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 176 kw (210 hp) Continental IO-360 and a FADEC-equipped diesel.

These plans were put on hold as Brumby Aircraft of Cowra, NSW obtained rights to the Aircruiser design and in 2013 announced it proposed to put the aircraft into production in due course after re-designing the aircraft to meet 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.

The original Aircruiser was certified by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority in Australia to meet US FAA Regulation Part 23 for missions including day, night, VFR and IFR flight. By early 2015 Brumby Aircraft Australia engineers had completed detail design for the new aircraft and it was expected commencement of the construction of a prototype would proceed.

The Brumby Aircruiser had a choice of engines, the 157 kw (210 hp) Continental IO-360, the 231 kw (310 hp) Continental IO-550 six-cylinder engine, or a de-rated to 205 kw (275 hp) Allison 250 turboprop driving a three-blade propeller. The latter variant has been targeted at the business community requirement for an aircraft that could fly at high altitude, have a high-cruising speed and, as announced by Brumby Aircraft, effectively had competition. In the basic variant Brumby Aircraft expected the aircraft to have the ability to satisfy a significant range of mission requirements from basic training in flight schools to fast economical air transport for families.