{{Short description|American light aircraft}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Use American English|date=January 2022}} <!-- This article is a part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft. Please see Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout. --> {{Infobox aircraft | name = Maule M-4 | logo = | logo_size = | image = Maule M-4-210C Rocket C-FWZM 02.JPG | alt = | caption = Maule M-4-210C Rocket | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Four-seat cabin monoplane | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = United States | manufacturer = Maule Aircraft Company | design_group = | designer = Belford Maule | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 474 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = 1963-1983 | introduction = 1961 | retired = | first_flight = 1960 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = Maule M-5 | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }} thumb|Maule M-4-210 Rocket
The '''Maule M-4''' is an American four-seat cabin monoplane designed by Belford Maule and built by the Maule Aircraft Company.
==Design and development== The design of the M-4 was started in 1956 by Belford Maule and the prototype ''Bee Dee'' first flew in February 1957. Maule started the Maule Aircraft Company to develop and build the aircraft in Napoleon, Michigan as the Maule M-4. The first M-4 flew on September 8, 1960. The M-4 is a steel-tube and fabric high-wing braced-monoplane with a cantilever tailplane with a single fin and rudder. It has a fixed tailwheel landing gear, and the prototype was powered by a nose-mounted 145 hp (108 kW) Continental O-300 engine. It has an enclosed cabin with two rows of side-by-side seating for a pilot and three passengers. The prototype first flew on September 8, 1961 and production started in 1963.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Other variants were introduced including the Rocket which is powered by a 210 hp (157 kW) Continental IO-360-A engine, a deluxe Franklin-powered ''M-4 Astro-Rocket'' and a Franklin-powered Rocket which is known as the ''M-4 Strata-Rocket''.
A STOL variant of the Strata Rocket was developed as the Maule M-5 Lunar Rocket.
==Variants== ;Bee Dee :Prototype with a {{cvt|145|hp}} Continental O-300-A piston engine, 11 built. ;M-4 Jetasen :Production version of the earlier Maule Bee Dee with {{cvt|145|hp}} Continental O-300A piston engine, 94 built. ;M-4C Jetasen :Fitted with a cargo door, 11 built. ;M-4S :Upgraded equipment, three built. ;M-4T :Dual-control trainer without rear-seats or rear-entry door, three built. ;M-4-180C Astro-Rocket :M-4C with a {{cvt|180|hp}} Franklin 6A-335-1A engine, seven built. ;M-4-210 Rocket :M-4 with a {{cvt|210|hp}} Continental IO-360-A engine, 45 built. ;M-4-210C Rocket :M-4-210 fitted with a cargo door, 117 built. ;M-4-220C Strata Rocket :M-4C with a {{cvt|220|hp}} Franklin 6A-350-C1 engine, 190 built. ;M-4-220S :M-4S with a {{cvt|220|hp}} Franklin 6A-350-C1 engine, one built. ;SADASA Cuahtemoc M-1 :License-built M-4 with a {{cvt|180|hp}} Lycoming O-360 engine, three built.
==Specifications (M-4-220C Strata Rocket)== {{Aircraft specs |ref=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1971–72<ref name="jawa71p346-7">{{Harvnb|Taylor|1971|pp=346–347}}</ref> |prime units?=imp |crew=1 |capacity=3 passengers |length ft=22 |length in=0 |span ft=30 |span in=10 |span note=(cambered wingtips) |height ft=6 |height in=2+1/2 |wing area sqft=152.5 |airfoil=USA 35B (modified) |empty weight lb=1250 |max takeoff weight lb=2300 |fuel capacity={{cvt|42|USgal|impgal L}} <!-- Powerplant --> |eng1 number=1|eng1 name=Franklin 6A-350-C1|eng1 type=air-cooled 6-cylinder horizontally-opposed engine|eng1 hp=220<!-- prop engines --> |prop blade number=2<!-- propeller aircraft --> |prop name= |prop dia ft=<!-- propeller aircraft --> |prop dia in=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
<!-- Performance --> |max speed mph= |cruise speed mph=180 |cruise speed note=(at 75% power) |stall speed mph=40 |stall speed note=(full flaps) |range miles=680 |ceiling ft=19000 |ceiling note=<br>'''Absolute ceiling:''' {{cvt|21000|ft}} |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin=1250 |more performance= *'''Take-off run to {{cvt|50|ft}}:''' {{cvt|600|ft}} *'''Landing run from {{cvt|50|ft}}:''' {{cvt|600|ft}} }}
==See also== {{aircontent <!-- include as many lines are appropriate. additional lines/entries with carriage return. --> |see also= |related=<!-- related developments --> |similar aircraft=<!-- similar or comparable aircraft --> *Piper Colt *Piper PA-16 Clipper |lists=<!-- related lists --> }}
==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist}} {{Commons category|Maule M-4}} ===Bibliography=== *{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=John W. R.|title=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1971–72|year=1971|publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Co.|location=London|isbn=0354000942}} * {{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Michael J. H.|title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation|year=1989|publisher=Studio Editions|location=London}} *{{cite book|last=Simpson|first=R.W.|title=Airlife's General Aviation|year=1991|publisher=Airlife Publishing|location=England|isbn=185310194X|page=190}} *{{cite book|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)|publisher=Orbis Publishing}}
{{Maule aircraft}}
Category:1950s United States sport aircraft M-04 Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft Category:High-wing aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1960 Category:Single-engined piston aircraft Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear