BFW M.31

{{Infobox aircraft | name = M.31 | logo = | logo_size = | image = Messerschmitt M.31 L'Aerophile December 1933.jpg | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Two-seat sports plane | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = Germany | manufacturer = Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) | design_group = | designer = Willy Messerschmitt | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 1932 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }}

The '''BFW M.31''', sometimes known as the '''Messerschmitt M.27''', was a radial-engined German two-seat sports plane from 1932, with a low, cantilever wing, open cockpits and fixed undercarriage. Only one was built.

==Development== In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Willy Messerschmitt, working at Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) produced a series of low-wing sports monoplanes with either one or two seats. These were the M.19, M.23, M.27, M.31 and M.35 with the M.23 the only one with sales of much over double figures. The ''M'', of course, stood for ''Messerschmitt''.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1971|pp=18–34}}</ref>

Like the M.27, the M.31 had the same wingspan as the M.23c. Like the M.23b and M.27, it was a tandem two-seat open cockpit monoplane machine, with a low cantilever wing and braced tailplane. The fuselage below the decking was more rounded than on the earlier aircraft, being built out of two longitudinal panels per side rather than one, with the lower one angled inwards. The fixed undercarriage was without the spats of the M.27. It was powered by a neatly cowled radial engine driving the usual two-blade airscrew. Some considered it to be the most elegant of the series.<ref name="JRS">{{harvnb|Smith|1971|p=32}}</ref>

The first flight was in 1932, and it was on display at the German Aerosport exhibition of 1933. No orders were placed and only the prototype was built.<ref name="JRS"/>

==Specifications== thumb|Messerschmitt M.31 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile December 1933 {{Aircraft specs |ref={{harvnb|Smith|1971|p=32}} |prime units? = met |crew=two |length m=7.85 |length ft=25 |length in=9 |span m=12.00 |span ft=39 |span in=4.25 |height m=1.90 |height ft=6 |height in=2.25 |wing area sqm=17 |wing area note=<ref name="laero33 p368">L'Aérophile December 1933, p. 368.</ref>|wing area sqft=183 |empty weight kg=335 |empty weight lb=739 |gross weight kg=650 |gross weight lb=1,433 |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=BMW Xa five cylinder radial |eng1 kw=45 |eng1 hp=60 |max speed kmh=170 |max speed mph=106 |range km=700 |range miles=435 |ceiling m=4500 |ceiling note=<ref name="laero33 p368"/>|ceiling ft=14760 }}  {{aircontent |see also= |related= |similar aircraft= |lists= }}

==References== {{commons category}} ;Citations {{reflist}} ;Cited sources {{refbegin}} *{{cite magazine|title=L'Avion de Sport Messerschmitt M 31|magazine=L'Aérophile|date=December 1933|volume= 41|issue= 12|page=368|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6553558n/f16.image|language=fr}} *{{cite book |title= Messerschmitt an aircraft album|last=Smith|first = J Richard|year =1971|publisher = Ian Allan|location = London|isbn=0-7110-0224-X}} {{refend}}

Category:1930s German sport aircraft M 31 Category:Low-wing aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1932