Photograph:
MBB BO-209 ZK-MON (c/n 168) at Omaka, New Zealand in April 2009 (David C Eyre)
Country of origin:
Germany
Description:
Two-seat light touring monoplane
Power Plant:
One 110 kw (150 hp) Lycoming O-320-E1C four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 8.4 m (27 ft 6 in)
- Length: 6.4 m (20 ft 11 in)
- Wing area: 10.2 m² (109.79 sq ft)
- Max speed: 275 km/h (171 mph)
- Cruising speed: 259 km/h (161 mph)
- Initial rate of climb: 320 m/min (1,024 ft/min)
- Range: 1,200 km (746 miles)
- Empty weight: 515 kg (1,135 lb)
- Loaded weight: 820 kg (1,808 lb)
History:
The Monsun was a two-seat light monoplane built in Germany in the 1960s and produced in some numbers with the Lycoming O-320 engine. Initially known as the MHK-101, the prototype flew for the first time on 12 December 1967, being shown to the public at the Hanover Airshow in 1968. It was designed by a Development Project Committee which consisted of three engineers, Hermann Mylius, Walter Heynen and Johannes Krauss of their own initiative, Ludwig Bolkow joining the project and supporting its development.
Developed from the Bo 208, with which it had no real commonality, it had a wider fuselage, a re-designed wing which was able to folded for storage and towing, and could be fitted with a fixed or retractable nose-wheel undercarriage. Two variants of the O-320 Lycoming engine were available, the Bo 209-150 having the 112 kw (150 hp) O-320-E1C unit; the Bo 209-160 having the O-320-E1F of 119 kw (160 hp) and the Bo 209S with dual controls, fixed undercarriage, non-folding wings, and aimed at the trainer market.
By the time it was released to the market 57 orders had been received and between 1969 and 1971 102 examples were completed, although orders were in place for a further 275. In 1968 Bolkow GmbH and MBB amalgamated and the decision was made to stop production in 1972.
First of the type seen in this region was ZK-MON (c/n 168 – ex D-EAAH) imported in mid 2008 and registered on 13 August, being flown by its owner from Whitianga, NZ.