| Meyers 200 | |
|---|---|
 A 1966-built Aero Commander 200D | |
| General information | |
| National origin | United States of America |
| Manufacturer | Meyers Aircraft Company |
| History | |
| Introduction date | 1955 |
TheMeyers 200 is a single-engined light aircraft produced in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s.
It was the brainchild ofAl Meyers and was a development of hisMeyers MAC-145 design. The holder of a number of speed records in its class, the Meyers 200 is widely admired for its clean lines, and is also known for its exceptionally sturdy airframe. This strength is derived from a tubular4130 chrome-moly steel truss structure withaluminum skin that protects occupants.[1]
In1966, theAero Commander division ofNorth American Rockwell purchased the rights to the Meyers 145 and 200, as part of a strategy to capture a share of the light aircraft market in the United States. During this time it was in the James Bond filmYou Only Live Twice. Known briefly as theAero Commander 200, it soon emerged that the firm could not produce the design economically. Meyers' firm had been virtually hand-building each aircraft and nojigs or tooling for the kind ofmass production envisaged by Aero Commander even existed at the time the rights were bought. Having spent US$4 million to produce just US$3 million worth of product, Aero Commander ceased production in1968 and sold the rights to theInterceptor Corporation, which developed aturboprop-powered version as theInterceptor 400. Ownership of the rights eventually passed to Prop-Jets, Inc., later known as Interceptor Aircraft Corporation. In 2014 the Global Parts Group, via a separately formed affiliate company called Interceptor Aviation Inc, purchased the rights along with all associated assets and intellectual property related to the Meyers 200 and Interceptor 400 model aircraft.
The Meyers 200D has never had an in-flight structural failure and has never had aFederal Aviation Administration mandatedAirworthiness Directive (AD) issued against the airframe. The4130 chrome-moly steel tubularroll cage and understructure act like a race car protective cage during a crash. Several Meyers aircraft have beenforced down in the trees and off airport runways with documented instances of the occupants walking away with only minor injuries or a broken bone.
Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1967–68[3]
General characteristics
Performance
Related development:
Comparable aircraft:
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