My father owned 200D- Aero Commander N2956T back in the day. He was WWII fighter pilot check pilot and loved the A-C for its fighter characteristics. He wished, though, that it had a sliding canopy instead of a door. He once taxied the nose wheel into a marker stick someone had placed along the grass field he owned. It broke a safety pin unbeknownst to him, and when he dropped his gear later to make a landing, the wheel assembly fell off! For all his 50 years of flying, that was his only accident. Truth be told, while he was a fantastic pilot, he scared the bejeebers out of me too many times when I was a kid, and I always felt yuck being around it. Still, it was a great plane and he was a greater dad.
Can I ask did he make his living as a pilot after the war. I am always amazed how many WW2 pilots came home but never flew commercially, Fro e.g. President George Bush
I owned a Grumman Cheetah AA-5A. It had a sliding canopy that you could fly it open as long as you were under 80 knots. It was a lot of fun and very affordable.
I have Meyers flight time (30 hours) about 20 years ago thanks to the person who gave me my first small plane ride in a C-182 in 1976. I never heard of the Meyers, but after my first fight in the 200, I came to know and admire the plane. My 500 hours of c-172 time did me no good when flying the 200. Did not compensate for the speed of the 200 and flew past Camarillo Airport by a mile. My friend just sat back and laughed !!! Miss him and the 200.
When I was in the market for an airplane I first considered Bonanza and decided against it -- Frankly the design emphasized speed at the expense of everything else. The Meyers 200D had such an A-1 reputation that I tried hard to find one. They rarely come up for sale, and when they do they are very pricey. Then I looked into the airplane Bonanza put out of business, the Navion, and liked its roomy interior and super-safe handling. So I bought a 1948 Navion. Comparing Navion with Meyers 200D the Meyers is faster, has a luxury cabin, and the steel frame is a big plus. Navion was originally a military design and the old ones were built extra-sturdy to mil-specs, so they don't come with a luxury interior. But the Navion is easier to fly than the Meyers 200D and is less slippery in flight.
I’ve owned two Meyers 200s and have 1500 hours flying mine and 18 others. I’ve also got around 100 hours flying Navions. The Meyers is just as easy to fly as a Navion or any other high speed complex aircraft.
I had the pleasure of flying in a Meyers 200 in 1966. Until that time, it was the fasted aircraft I had ever been in! Today, my brother-in-law, a retired FedX captain) owns one and he is a really happy camper!
I almost bought a Meyers 200D instead of the V35B I now own. I have flown both the 200D and the Meyers 400 Interceptor and I find the Bonanza to be a better flying aircraft and just as fast as the 200D, but certainly not even close to a 400. I first saw the 400 at the NBAA convention at Burbank and the one that crashed was caused by a fuel starvation problem and was allegedly owned by F. Lee Bailey who had an interest in resurrecting the production. For a period in the late 1980's I was also involved in getting the company and 200D restarted. The "owner" of the type certificate almost had enough parts to build 7 new airplanes and therein lines a problem of why I gravitated to a Bonanza after flying a Cessna T210 for 12 years prior and a C182 for six years before that. There were several Meyers 200Ds on the market and what appeared to be good airframes, but parts and service seemed to be sparse. I didn't want to own an orphan. The current "dean" and expert on Meyers is Dean Siracusa and probably the most knowledgeable guy out there. He is a terrific resource. If I was younger, I might have gone for the Meyers.
Thanks for the feedback and your experience with the Meyers. Yes, I spoke to Dean, in fact he suggested I produce a video on the Meyers and knowing very little about it, I figured it would be a great way to learn about an aircraft myself. Coincidentally there's a local one to me based at KFXE and I had a chance to step inside last month.
@@aircraftadventures-vids I last talked to Dean at Oshkosh this year, great guy. I have the names of guys who are involved with the Meyers owners club. I saw them a couple of years ago at their "convention" in Sedona. The Meyers 200D I flew was 30 years ago. It was a 175 kt bird but handling was a bit heavy in pitch as it has a small rudder and short 30' wing that has a roll in it towards the tip, I guess for stall characteristics. But its built like a tank, maybe better. My V35B at 11,500' at 59% power (2400X20 inches) and 3,000 pounds I indicate 148 kts in my V35B which is a true 175-176kts on 12.5 gph. Hard to beat that. That's rich of peak, by the way.
Yes, absolutely the best 4 seat plane ever built. these things have been a favorite of mine since I was a little child. A beautiful, and strongly built, airplane.
Looked on Google maps and found the old airport where Al Meyers had his factory in Tecumseh. There is a nice commemorative marker honoring the Meyers legacy. I was always fascinated by the 200, and remember seeing their small ads in Flying Magazine. Always thought it was a cool, rather exotic aircraft. The truss center section and cabin are beautiful structures. Nice video!
We started with a T-6, moved to a Navion for years, then a "61 Meyers200, then a "68 v35 with a "47 v35, still had the 88" electric prop sitting at our hanger for years. ALL fun to fly.
When I first saw it I thought it was a Navion. It looks really solid. I like it a lot. A shame it didn't continue. He walked away from it ok, but it really . Jam that left foot to the firewall and drive on! Could've been the DC-3 of single engine airplanes.
Gotta say man, I'm so glad you switched to narration instead of text-to-speech. Also you've improved noticeably from even a few months ago. Really enjoying the videos!
This is an excellent review of Meyers aircraft. My Dad was a Spartan trained A&E and former B-29 engine mechanic. His favorite light aircraft was the Spartan Executive, but he also greatly admired the 200 for its strength and performance. Unfortunately, neither airplane was affordable. However, by pure coincidence a former NCO from his Air Force service walked into our family's hardware store one day and Dad recognized him. The man was retired and now working at the Aero Commander plant in Albany, GA, about 80 miles away. He invited us to fly up and have a tour of their facility. This was in the mid-to-late 1960s and Dad jumped at the chance to see these planes under construction. Our VIP tour also included a test flight in their new Lark 100. I remember the man telling Dad it was costing them more to build the 200 than they could sell them for. I think the price was around $35,000 at the time, but I may be mistaken. Just before we departed he gave me a huge poster of the Lark which I pinned to the door of my bedroom closet. I spent the next few years combing every issue of Trade-A-Plane for an affordable Meyers 145 or 200, though I personally favored the 200D for its larger engine. It was all for naught, but Dad did eventually purchase a Cherokee 235 and later an early model Aztec. None of these planes could match the Meyers for beauty or speed, but they were a darn sight faster than his old Luscombe 8E - and much roomer. 🙂 P.S. I once read the Interceptor was a real dog to fly because the plane had never been designed for cruising at such high speeds. Maybe one of your viewers can confirm of refute this claim. I believe somebody also tried this idea the Ryan Navion and got similar results.
First of all thank you for your kind feedback! And thanks for sharing your rich experiences, that must have been a treat to visit the plant. As far as the 400, that does make sense but I have never read such an account. The number of those who have flown it is definately finite so not sure if there's any written account. Turboprop Navion? That's like sticking a Ferrari V12 in a VW Bug!
This is probably the best “sheet metal” airplane but not because of its strength and speed. It’s the only plane in this category with the best slow landing speed also at 47knots, that’s what makes this plane so special. Meyers designed a flap better than everyone else also. Now if we’re talking composite, the pinnacle of perfection is the LX7 piston.
I owned a Navion and had an IO 520 in it and loved it. The Meyers looks a lot like the Navion and I wonder how they compare. I love the big struts of the Navion and the ability to land in tough places. The Meyers and the North American NAVION look similar.
Both are tough planes. Navion's more spacious as I understand it (VERY spacious in fact) but the Meyers is much faster, especially with the IO-520 or 550. But the Navion's a fine plane indeed, and of course more well know.
A friend owned an Aero Commander 200 back in the 1970s, and I rented it from him several times for trips. At 7.000-8,000 feet it would cruise at 210 mph. What a great plane it was to fly.
While working on a job in WA State, an Alaska hand cane to our fab table with a hand full of pieces. Wanted me to weld'em up. When we were finished and I asked what we were doing, he showed me a photo of a plane that looked strikingly like the one here. It turns out we remade a lot of different aluminum parts from stainless steel. He went back to Alaska a happy camper. Said the SS would out last the plane. Years later my CFI tells me we coulda gotten in lots of trouble over that. Something about airworthiness certifications. I told him not to worry, I never got in trouble for welding up a fella's ss parts for his dad's still down in southern GA. He sure did bring us back some really nice jars full. Heck of it all is I don't remember either of their names. That was back in the 70s. They tell me that there's two signs of old age, loss of memory is one just don't remember what the other one was. Nice plane here though. Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas Y'all 👍
You can't argue with success, the Beech Bonanza is still in production today. My K-35 Bonanza has a cruise speed of 170 knots at 11 gallons per hour. It looks as good or better.
Nice review. With a smile I enjoyed the comment about use of right rudder on takeoff. Flew the 285 version many years ago, N196M according to the old log book. At the time I was doing a lot of flying in Beechcraft and twin Cessnas and found the Meyers 200 was surprisingly fast for a single. I recall it cruised a little faster than most of the Beech singles and pretty close to some of the Cessna 310s. After a checkout with none other than Debbie Gary, I felt very much at home in the Meyers/Aero Commander. Unfortunately Aero Commander didn't see the potential in tooling up to mass produce the 200. It wasn't for low time pilots but a much better cross country airplane than most general aviation singles.
I had an opportunity to fly a Meyers commander when the owner of one inadvertently landed on the parallel taxiway. Later, I noticed that the airport sheriff was looking over the Mayers in transient parking. Being curious I enquired the officer and was told that the pilot of this aircraft landed on the taxiway and did not comply with the control towers request to call them. The sheriff left a note on the door. Stating that the aircraft has been impounded and any attempt to fly it will constitute a crime. Later that afternoon I noticed someone else fooling with the Meyers. I approached the visibly shaken man reading the note left by the sheriff and asked him what seemed to be the problem? He explained the contents of the note left by the sheriff and continued to say that his home was 150 mi away. Since I worked at the airport I invited him to use the phone at the flying club that I was a flight instructor for. He gratefully accepted and called the sheriff's dept, and his wife. The sheriff FORBID him from flying his airplane as the investigation was on going. The pilot exchanged information with the deputy. The pilot explained the situation. He explained that he had no way to get home. I explained that I could fly him home. Which I did. During the flight home, he confessed to his error, and that his medical had been expired for sometime. Upon landing, he gave me the keys and showed the maintenance logs showing that the aircraft was legal to fly. Although, he was not. And would I please fly his airplane back when it was released by the sheriff. I agreed to do it at no charge as with the flight we just finished. He said I can share in the expenses. Which I refused, I said you've already had a tough day. So, my treat. I did however, with his permission did several takeoffs and landings to a full stop, and basic airwork with a full stall series to familiarize myself in all configurations. The Meyers is a terrific handling aircraft! A few days later the sheriff called me and released the aircraft to my custody only after examining my credentials. All worked out in end. All in all, flying the Meyers Commander was a unique and enjoyable experience.
@@lanceyarwood3132 That was a very interesting post. My time in the Meyers 200 also resulted from being a CFI. Debbie Gary, who used to fly formation aerobatics with Jim Holland, then later was the demo pilot for the BD Silver Bullet Jet, was also on our staff. One day she told me the owner of the M200 needed a BFR and that she would give me a checkout in the airplane if I would handle it. So off we went and subsequently I got with the owner and spent an afternoon taking him through the BFR. N196M was the only M200 in our local area and I considered myself fortunate to have the opportunity to fly this nice airplane. The owner was a WWII vet who enjoyed flying a high performance airplane. He handled it well and as I recall, flew it for several years and never had any problems with it. During the checkout Debbie mentioned that with 285 hp up front it could run out of right rudder with a left crosswind on takeoff unless you opened the throttle smoothly. We both were experienced enough that keeping the nose on the centerline for takeoff was one of many ingrained skills so that was not an issue. Debbie had her own Decathlon and often flew a Pitts S-2A in airshows.
Excellent documentary! One minor update though - Myers Aircraft were manufactured in Tecumseh Michigan (not Tecumseh Wisconsin). I grew up across the road from the Tecumseh airport where Myers was at. Wikipedia has a good write up on Myers Aircraft en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyers_Aircraft_Company
Hey Bill! I also lived across from Meyers Airport back when. My family moved there in 1959 and lived on River Acres Dr., until my dad died in 2008. Before that we lived in Macon, MI. As a Cub Scout I toured the Meyers factory. Meyers went on to manufacturing boats, canoes, and Jeep CJ tops. I don't know when they stopped making the Jeep tops. But recall having worked (1977) at Central Transport (Adrian terminal), shipping them (when Yellow Freight, Meyers primary shipper, was on strike). I graduated from Tecumseh High School in 1968. Do you remember when the skydiver landed through the powerlines, and died?
This looks a lot like a plane my dad owned, a 1947 Navion, i remember riding with him when i was a kid, it was built by North American, the same company that built the P 51, the Navion was called the poor mans P51.
Well, sort of good news. I’m doing a video on the SF260. Not as hot as a Falco but far more successful. And the Falco will def be featured in the video.
In the mid 60's, when I was a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol, the Adrian Squadron volunteered to help with a fly-in breakfast at the Tecumseh airport. Adrian is about 12 miles from Tecumseh. After the event Al Meyers gave us all rides in a Meyers Biplane. I have pictures somewhere.
112/114 are very roomy and comfortable but very slow. The 200 is almost a Unicorn these days. Very rare. The numbers as you said are impressive with the ruggedness, speed and capabilities.
I personally find the 112/114 beautiful looking, albeit quite boxier than the Meyers. Especially that tall cruciform tail looks terrific. Planes don't have to be round to look good in my book (Trinidad another example)
Never heard of it. Looks like more sophisticated shaping then others at the time. But Lancair IV-P is just a different level. And so much much better could be done still.
Thanks for giving attention to these interesting aircraft! However, I believe there is a slight error in your history - I'm almost certain that they were built/based in Tecumseh Michigan, not Wisconsin
Nice looking plane and a big engine makes it very valuable. But picking a plane depends on wht you are using it for . I lived/ flew Alaska, so I needed a high wing plane with bush mods. This company would have made a great bush plane. Thanks.
Nice story seems the idea was truly ahead of the time. And how the new Rockwell commander 112 & 114 came out...but not as strong or as durable as the Meyers...
If I hadn't had the opportunity to fly a Ruschmeyer R90-230RG (an even rarer bird, also without any AD's) for years, a 200D would have come first. Great airplane...!
There are sacrifices to be made with mass production and I'm not sure they'd be able to keep it the same if it were cheap to produce. (look up what Piper did to the Comanche, for example)
Every single spare part is fabricated by order and the airplane is most likely grounded for most time of the year while you are waiting for the part🤷♂️
Actually that was sort of the restart of the Meyers 145. It was called Micco Sp20, interesting plane but it’s timeline doesn’t really intersect with the meyers 200
And, the Meyers 145 and 200 are entirely different Type Certificates, owned by different people. They do share the same wing center section, and same wing design, but that’s about it.
@@aircraftadventures-vids Ah, Thanks! I did not realize that the SP20 was not the same as the 200. Only saw one example and that was at the Dayton Airshow around 1988.
If not the best it has to be in the top 5 if we are fair to the type. Looks very much like a Navion and that's a design which has been around since the 1950s.
It may have looked like a Navion which has been around actually since the 1940s, but it had a much cleaner airframe, much less wetted surface and a much better wing which creates and is responsible for most of the drag on an airplane. That's why the Meyers was about 40 knots faster. Yeah, it is certainly in the top 5 (along with the Comanche and Bonanza), but it cost too much to build and it had other issues like four separate 20 gallon fuel tanks and one gauge and you could only draw from one at a time, the cabin door had issues and other recurring maintenance. And perhaps the biggest issue was its limited payload, it had a certified gross weight of just 3,000 pounds. Rockwell was in the process of raising that to 3,350 pounds, but the paperwork was never completed. The 200D was essentially a two passenger airplane.
@@aircraftadventures-vids The solution to the 3,000 pound GW limit for a lot of Meyers owners is to ignore it "slightly." The aircraft had gone through all the testing for the higher gross weight, it just was a paperwork issue to get it raised from what I understand.
@@larryweitzman5163 Thanks for that. It's a type I'd never heard of until I came across this video. A shame no one ever stepped up to put it into series prroduction, it deserves to be much more popular.
@@mothmagic1 Your welcome. It was expensive to build, but today a PA-28 or C172 is expensive. One thing about the Meyers that I never liked was the look of the nose bowl. And a Bonanza is only a little better. Never liked the Meyers cooling duct.
I never came close to understanding the hype and mystique around the Meyers - until now, close but still not fully. The term “Ferrari of the skies” has become so popular and applied to so many types it should be “The Volkswagen of the skies” - it’s hard to believe that a giant like Rockwell would purchase the line of aircraft without knowing how it is built!?
I don’t disagree on the cliches but hey whose to argue if you love the plane, lol. As to the Rockwell, yeah that was pretty mind-boggling. As I understand it, the bean counters weren’t involved in the decision till they took notice the numbers weren’t making any sense.
Because Aero Commander wanted to do assembly line, high volume production they had to create all new jigs and tooling. And, to this day, both sets of jigs and tooling still exist (the original, low volume production versions and the Aero Commander versions).
From an engineering perspective, there is nothing special about this aircraft. It goes 5-10mph faster than a Bonanza on the same horsepower. But thats because its wing area is only 161.5ft^2 to the Bonanzas 181ft^2. And its gross is given 3,000 vs 3,400-3,600 range for the larger aircraft. The Bonanza is almost more impressive in its performance and utility due giving up very little in speed to this smaller less practical airplane due to its size. Steel tube fuselages are over rated. Hundreds of thousands of people have died just as dead in piper cubs and fokker D.VII and hurricanes as any other. Cessnas can smash into power-lines and trees, crew usually survives with no major injuries. And especially bonanzas are remarkably robust with their "keel" and bed mount.
I know, I've been informed 10x already (and deservingly). As to payload, not 100% sure but it is limited compared to other similar models. Rockwell was seeking to increase it but that never happened.
You are joking, right? This thing is an antique. Pales in comparison to advanced aircraft like Cirrus, Velocity and even Mooneys (which are part metal now).
You’ve clearly never flown one. I’ve flown many Cirrus’s, Mooneys, and even modern experimental aircraft such as Lancairs and Velocity’s. The Meyers was way ahead of the others in its era and flies much more like a modern plane than you’d ever expect. Better even!
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My father owned 200D- Aero Commander N2956T back in the day. He was WWII fighter pilot check pilot and loved the A-C for its fighter characteristics. He wished, though, that it had a sliding canopy instead of a door. He once taxied the nose wheel into a marker stick someone had placed along the grass field he owned. It broke a safety pin unbeknownst to him, and when he dropped his gear later to make a landing, the wheel assembly fell off! For all his 50 years of flying, that was his only accident. Truth be told, while he was a fantastic pilot, he scared the bejeebers out of me too many times when I was a kid, and I always felt yuck being around it. Still, it was a great plane and he was a greater dad.
Can I ask did he make his living as a pilot after the war. I am always amazed how many WW2 pilots came home but never flew commercially, Fro e.g. President George Bush
I owned a Grumman Cheetah AA-5A. It had a sliding canopy that you could fly it open as long as you were under 80 knots. It was a lot of fun and very affordable.
I have Meyers flight time (30 hours) about 20 years ago thanks to the person who gave me my first small plane ride in a C-182 in 1976. I never heard of the Meyers, but after my first fight in the 200, I came to know and admire the plane. My 500 hours of c-172 time did me no good when flying the 200. Did not compensate for the speed of the 200 and flew past Camarillo Airport by a mile. My friend just sat back and laughed !!! Miss him and the 200.
Cool experience. I think you need P51 time to step up to the meyers.
I had a Meyers OTW 160. Amazing aircraft. Never had an AD written on it. Not many aircraft can make that claim.
@@davidgrainger5994 Don't you still have it, Dave? And Happy New Year, by the way!
When I was in the market for an airplane I first considered Bonanza and decided against it -- Frankly the design emphasized speed at the expense of everything else. The Meyers 200D had such an A-1 reputation that I tried hard to find one. They rarely come up for sale, and when they do they are very pricey. Then I looked into the airplane Bonanza put out of business, the Navion, and liked its roomy interior and super-safe handling. So I bought a 1948 Navion. Comparing Navion with Meyers 200D the Meyers is faster, has a luxury cabin, and the steel frame is a big plus. Navion was originally a military design and the old ones were built extra-sturdy to mil-specs, so they don't come with a luxury interior. But the Navion is easier to fly than the Meyers 200D and is less slippery in flight.
I’ve owned two Meyers 200s and have 1500 hours flying mine and 18 others. I’ve also got around 100 hours flying Navions. The Meyers is just as easy to fly as a Navion or any other high speed complex aircraft.
I had the pleasure of flying in a Meyers 200 in 1966. Until that time, it was the fasted aircraft I had ever been in! Today, my brother-in-law, a retired FedX captain) owns one and he is a really happy camper!
Good Video! I Enjoy Learning About Aviation. Thank You.
I almost bought a Meyers 200D instead of the V35B I now own. I have flown both the 200D and the Meyers 400 Interceptor and I find the Bonanza to be a better flying aircraft and just as fast as the 200D, but certainly not even close to a 400. I first saw the 400 at the NBAA convention at Burbank and the one that crashed was caused by a fuel starvation problem and was allegedly owned by F. Lee Bailey who had an interest in resurrecting the production. For a period in the late 1980's I was also involved in getting the company and 200D restarted. The "owner" of the type certificate almost had enough parts to build 7 new airplanes and therein lines a problem of why I gravitated to a Bonanza after flying a Cessna T210 for 12 years prior and a C182 for six years before that. There were several Meyers 200Ds on the market and what appeared to be good airframes, but parts and service seemed to be sparse. I didn't want to own an orphan. The current "dean" and expert on Meyers is Dean Siracusa and probably the most knowledgeable guy out there. He is a terrific resource. If I was younger, I might have gone for the Meyers.
Thanks for the feedback and your experience with the Meyers. Yes, I spoke to Dean, in fact he suggested I produce a video on the Meyers and knowing very little about it, I figured it would be a great way to learn about an aircraft myself. Coincidentally there's a local one to me based at KFXE and I had a chance to step inside last month.
@@aircraftadventures-vids I last talked to Dean at Oshkosh this year, great guy. I have the names of guys who are involved with the Meyers owners club. I saw them a couple of years ago at their "convention" in Sedona. The Meyers 200D I flew was 30 years ago. It was a 175 kt bird but handling was a bit heavy in pitch as it has a small rudder and short 30' wing that has a roll in it towards the tip, I guess for stall characteristics. But its built like a tank, maybe better. My V35B at 11,500' at 59% power (2400X20 inches) and 3,000 pounds I indicate 148 kts in my V35B which is a true 175-176kts on 12.5 gph. Hard to beat that. That's rich of peak, by the way.
Im thinking that 3D printing may well solve the problem of rare parts. Eventually 3D printing will custom fabrication
@@johnypitman2368 That's a good idea but the parts have to be "certified" or PMA for the aircraft, i believe.
You think a Bonanza flies better than a Meyers?!?!?!? By what metric, I’m curious?
Yes, absolutely the best 4 seat plane ever built. these things have been a favorite of mine since I was a little child. A beautiful, and strongly built, airplane.
Looked on Google maps and found the old airport where Al Meyers had his factory in Tecumseh. There is a nice commemorative marker honoring the Meyers legacy. I was always fascinated by the 200, and remember seeing their small ads in Flying Magazine. Always thought it was a cool, rather exotic aircraft. The truss center section and cabin are beautiful structures. Nice video!
Thanks you!!
My hometown! Sad the airport is closed now would have loved to been able to land there
would have been neat to see the Meyers reunion/fly-ins back in the 1990s.
We started with a T-6, moved to a Navion for years, then a "61 Meyers200, then a "68 v35 with a "47 v35, still had the 88" electric prop sitting at our hanger for years. ALL fun to fly.
That's some collection!
@@aircraftadventures-vids Father loved flying, bought and sold aircraft, only listed ones we kept more than a year.
When I first saw it I thought it was a Navion. It looks really solid. I like it a lot. A shame it didn't continue. He walked away from it ok, but it really . Jam that left foot to the firewall and drive on! Could've been the DC-3 of single engine airplanes.
Gotta say man, I'm so glad you switched to narration instead of text-to-speech. Also you've improved noticeably from even a few months ago. Really enjoying the videos!
Awesome, thank you for the kind feedback! Am working on improving voiceovers on each video.
Never heard of the Meyers 200 and I've been into aviation my whole life.
Glad to introduce it to you! I knew very little myself till I started my research on them.
Thanks for posting. Great feature!
Thanks! 🙏
Well Done Review of a Great Plane!
Thank you Juan!
Beautiful aircraft. Loved that low flyby.
Flybys are the best!
Outstanding aircraft! Beautiful and fast and good for 4 people. I'd love to have one.
It really is!
This is an excellent review of Meyers aircraft. My Dad was a Spartan trained A&E and former B-29 engine mechanic. His favorite light aircraft was the Spartan Executive, but he also greatly admired the 200 for its strength and performance. Unfortunately, neither airplane was affordable. However, by pure coincidence a former NCO from his Air Force service walked into our family's hardware store one day and Dad recognized him. The man was retired and now working at the Aero Commander plant in Albany, GA, about 80 miles away. He invited us to fly up and have a tour of their facility. This was in the mid-to-late 1960s and Dad jumped at the chance to see these planes under construction. Our VIP tour also included a test flight in their new Lark 100. I remember the man telling Dad it was costing them more to build the 200 than they could sell them for. I think the price was around $35,000 at the time, but I may be mistaken. Just before we departed he gave me a huge poster of the Lark which I pinned to the door of my bedroom closet. I spent the next few years combing every issue of Trade-A-Plane for an affordable Meyers 145 or 200, though I personally favored the 200D for its larger engine. It was all for naught, but Dad did eventually purchase a Cherokee 235 and later an early model Aztec. None of these planes could match the Meyers for beauty or speed, but they were a darn sight faster than his old Luscombe 8E - and much roomer. 🙂
P.S. I once read the Interceptor was a real dog to fly because the plane had never been designed for cruising at such high speeds. Maybe one of your viewers can confirm of refute this claim. I believe somebody also tried this idea the Ryan Navion and got similar results.
First of all thank you for your kind feedback! And thanks for sharing your rich experiences, that must have been a treat to visit the plant. As far as the 400, that does make sense but I have never read such an account. The number of those who have flown it is definately finite so not sure if there's any written account. Turboprop Navion? That's like sticking a Ferrari V12 in a VW Bug!
@@aircraftadventures-vids I think something like that was done for the movie Herbie the Love Bug.
The Spartan Executive IS the best looking Single Engine aircraft of all time!! Period.
@@goneflying140 It's a looker, but my vote goes for the Beech 17 Staggerwing.
@@Paladin1873
The Staggerwing is another one of those great classic aircraft!! Good choice.
When I see a Myers 200 on a YT thumbnail, I CLICK! A wonderful plane and a great job on the video!
Thanks! I barely knew anything about it till I researched for the video. In love now
Never heard of this aircraft but have probably mistaken it for a Navion. Very cool.
That understandable with the bubble canopy. I didn’t know much till I researched it.
At first i thought it was a Navion! Oops... 😂
Excellent stuff bro
Glad you enjoyed it
This is probably the best “sheet metal” airplane but not because of its strength and speed. It’s the only plane in this category with the best slow landing speed also at 47knots, that’s what makes this plane so special. Meyers designed a flap better than everyone else also. Now if we’re talking composite, the pinnacle of perfection is the LX7 piston.
We have to put this in context of when this was built, a 50s design.
Thanks for this history. I didn't know anything about this a/c!
Great video, I love stories about different airplanes, never heard of this one but very interesting
Thanks for watching
Very interesting! I did not know much about the Meyers 200 until now! 👌 1st time watching your channel, very cool. Subscribed!
Thanks, that was an awesome video
Thanks!
Thanks for the very interesting video. I have never heard of the Meyers aircraft. before your video.
Great video on the Meyers 200 (and the 145) Richard. Both have been favorites of mine for many years.
They are instant classics for sure. Both great planes.
This was great! I honestly have never heard about the myers 200 and I thought I knew about a lot of ga aircraft. Thanks for the video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I owned a Navion and had an IO 520 in it and loved it. The Meyers looks a lot like the Navion and I wonder how they compare. I love the big struts of the Navion and the ability to land in tough places. The Meyers and the North American NAVION look similar.
Both are tough planes. Navion's more spacious as I understand it (VERY spacious in fact) but the Meyers is much faster, especially with the IO-520 or 550. But the Navion's a fine plane indeed, and of course more well know.
I don't know if it's the best plane... but it's really very elegant and beautiful.
Sure is
A friend owned an Aero Commander 200 back in the 1970s, and I rented it from him several times for trips. At 7.000-8,000 feet it would cruise at 210 mph. What a great plane it was to fly.
Thanks for sharing your experience, it’s a rare bird
One of the one GA aircraft with ZERO ADs! That is saying something!
While working on a job in WA State, an Alaska hand cane to our fab table with a hand full of pieces. Wanted me to weld'em up. When we were finished and I asked what we were doing, he showed me a photo of a plane that looked strikingly like the one here. It turns out we remade a lot of different aluminum parts from stainless steel. He went back to Alaska a happy camper. Said the SS would out last the plane.
Years later my CFI tells me we coulda gotten in lots of trouble over that. Something about airworthiness certifications.
I told him not to worry, I never got in trouble for welding up a fella's ss parts for his dad's still down in southern GA. He sure did bring us back some really nice jars full.
Heck of it all is I don't remember either of their names. That was back in the 70s.
They tell me that there's two signs of old age, loss of memory is one just don't remember what the other one was.
Nice plane here though.
Thanks for sharing.
Merry Christmas Y'all 👍
Merry Christmas right back at ya! Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm also keeping that joke (just hope I don't forget it)
You can't argue with success, the Beech Bonanza is still in production today. My K-35 Bonanza has a cruise speed of 170 knots at 11 gallons per hour. It looks as good or better.
Try the AirSkeg 👍
Nice review. With a smile I enjoyed the comment about use of right rudder on takeoff. Flew the 285 version many years ago, N196M according to the old log book. At the time I was doing a lot of flying in Beechcraft and twin Cessnas and found the Meyers 200 was surprisingly fast for a single. I recall it cruised a little faster than most of the Beech singles and pretty close to some of the Cessna 310s. After a checkout with none other than Debbie Gary, I felt very much at home in the Meyers/Aero Commander. Unfortunately Aero Commander didn't see the potential in tooling up to mass produce the 200. It wasn't for low time pilots but a much better cross country airplane than most general aviation singles.
I went a little overboard with the p51 reference but it was a tongue in cheek comment. Tx for the feedback.
I had an opportunity to fly a Meyers commander when the owner of one inadvertently landed on the parallel taxiway. Later, I noticed that the airport sheriff was looking over the Mayers in transient parking. Being curious I enquired the officer and was told that the pilot of this aircraft landed on the taxiway and did not comply with the control towers request to call them. The sheriff left a note on the door. Stating that the aircraft has been impounded and any attempt to fly it will constitute a crime. Later that afternoon I noticed someone else fooling with the Meyers. I approached the visibly shaken man reading the note left by the sheriff and asked him what seemed to be the problem? He explained the contents of the note left by the sheriff and continued to say that his home was 150 mi away. Since I worked at the airport I invited him to use the phone at the flying club that I was a flight instructor for. He gratefully accepted and called the sheriff's dept, and his wife. The sheriff FORBID him from flying his airplane as the investigation was on going. The pilot exchanged information with the deputy. The pilot explained the situation. He explained that he had no way to get home. I explained that I could fly him home. Which I did. During the flight home, he confessed to his error, and that his medical had been expired for sometime. Upon landing, he gave me the keys and showed the maintenance logs showing that the aircraft was legal to fly. Although, he was not. And would I please fly his airplane back when it was released by the sheriff. I agreed to do it at no charge as with the flight we just finished. He said I can share in the expenses. Which I refused, I said you've already had a tough day. So, my treat. I did however, with his permission did several takeoffs and landings to a full stop, and basic airwork with a full stall series to familiarize myself in all configurations. The Meyers is a terrific handling aircraft! A few days later the sheriff called me and released the aircraft to my custody only after examining my credentials. All worked out in end. All in all, flying the Meyers Commander was a unique and enjoyable experience.
@@lanceyarwood3132 That was a very interesting post. My time in the Meyers 200 also resulted from being a CFI. Debbie Gary, who used to fly formation aerobatics with Jim Holland, then later was the demo pilot for the BD Silver Bullet Jet, was also on our staff. One day she told me the owner of the M200 needed a BFR and that she would give me a checkout in the airplane if I would handle it. So off we went and subsequently I got with the owner and spent an afternoon taking him through the BFR. N196M was the only M200 in our local area and I considered myself fortunate to have the opportunity to fly this nice airplane. The owner was a WWII vet who enjoyed flying a high performance airplane. He handled it well and as I recall, flew it for several years and never had any problems with it. During the checkout Debbie mentioned that with 285 hp up front it could run out of right rudder with a left crosswind on takeoff unless you opened the throttle smoothly. We both were experienced enough that keeping the nose on the centerline for takeoff was one of many ingrained skills so that was not an issue. Debbie had her own Decathlon and often flew a Pitts S-2A in airshows.
Beautiful airplane ! It will have made a great flying model .
I just love Mooney aircraft and in particular the M2OK.
Best wishes to everyone!
I had a brand new G.. in '68.. 174 mph @ 6,500 ft on 8.8 gallons 80 octane.
wish I still had it.
Excellent documentary! One minor update though - Myers Aircraft were manufactured in Tecumseh Michigan (not Tecumseh Wisconsin). I grew up across the road from the Tecumseh airport where Myers was at. Wikipedia has a good write up on Myers Aircraft
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyers_Aircraft_Company
I know! I'm kicking myself for this silly mistake, but too late now. Could have been worse and said Alaska, I guess.
Tecumseh,WI, isn't that where the Tecumseh airmen from WWiI were based?😂😅😊
@@goneflying140 I think you are the thinking about the Tuskegee airmen. They were based in Tuskegee, Alabama.
@@asquare9316
My comment was a joke based on the Tecumseh, WI phraze in the video...
Hey Bill! I also lived across from Meyers Airport back when. My family moved there in 1959 and lived on River Acres Dr., until my dad died in 2008. Before that we lived in Macon, MI. As a Cub Scout I toured the Meyers factory.
Meyers went on to manufacturing boats, canoes, and Jeep CJ tops. I don't know when they stopped making the Jeep tops. But recall having worked (1977) at Central Transport (Adrian terminal), shipping them (when Yellow Freight, Meyers primary shipper, was on strike). I graduated from Tecumseh High School in 1968. Do you remember when the skydiver landed through the powerlines, and died?
I met Al Meyers at a dawn patrol when I was 7. My Dad did a Fire Watch at the Meyers airport. Good times.
Beautiful and fast little plane.
This looks a lot like a plane my dad owned, a 1947 Navion, i remember riding with him when i was a kid, it was built by North American, the same company that built the P 51, the Navion was called the poor mans P51.
I would love to see a video on the Falco F8l. They are another marvel if efficiency and absolutely stunning.
Well, sort of good news. I’m doing a video on the SF260. Not as hot as a Falco but far more successful. And the Falco will def be featured in the video.
@@aircraftadventures-vids Awesome I can't wait
@@aircraftadventures-vids SF260 will leave a Falco F8 in the dust!
It’s a beautiful clean shape!
My doctor is one of the famous Pruitt brothers of flight record fame.
Great guys, great airplane.
In the mid 60's, when I was a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol, the Adrian Squadron volunteered to help with a fly-in breakfast at the Tecumseh airport. Adrian is about 12 miles from Tecumseh. After the event Al Meyers gave us all rides in a Meyers Biplane. I have pictures somewhere.
Would LOVE to see those if you don't mind sharing. Shoot an email to richard@e-sense.tv
I would be glad to if I can locate them.@@aircraftadventures-vids
@@aircraftadventures-vids Finally found the pictures. As soon as I scan them I will email them to you.
Interesting , Thank You
Glad you enjoyed it
112/114 are very roomy and comfortable but very slow. The 200 is almost a Unicorn these days. Very rare. The numbers as you said are impressive with the ruggedness, speed and capabilities.
I personally find the 112/114 beautiful looking, albeit quite boxier than the Meyers. Especially that tall cruciform tail looks terrific. Planes don't have to be round to look good in my book (Trinidad another example)
Yes they are good looking planes and very roomy. Same issue the Navion had, slow for the horsepower.
@@johnmajane3731lol¡l
LlP
Looks strikingly like a Navion.
My thought too!
The exact plane used in You Only Live Twice is currently for sale on TAP for $86.5k.
Why so low? Because they demolished it? 😂
First time I looked at one - Wasn’t sure what it was -- very nice , Even totally Cool !
Glad you liked it!
Very cool. Never heard of it.
Yup, me too till I started researching about it.
I'm not familiar with the Meyers 200 hundred but as far as I am concerned the Grumman tiger is the best!
Some people like Subaru instead of BMW.
Somewhat off topic: At 3:22 there is what appears to be a racetrack on the ground below the aircraft. Any idea what it is?
Not sure, tbh
I knew a man in Miami, Florida about 1960 that had a Meyers 200....I remember him replacing the single windows with double windows....
Great video.
Thanks! 🙏
Never heard of it. Looks like more sophisticated shaping then others at the time. But Lancair IV-P is just a different level. And so much much better could be done still.
The new video I'm working is an aircraft more directly comparable to the Lancair IV. Stay tuned...
I am partial to the Cessna 337 Skymaster. But, I love this video.
I'm not partial, I'm 100%! Love the 337, and my dad who at one time was a Cessna salesman, told me it was his favorite twin as well.
never heard of this plane, thanks for educating me.
It was a process in education for myself as well. Never really knew much about it till I did my homework
The Piaggio 149D was used for many years as a Trainer, for Swiss Air Pilots.
Fully Aerobatic.
The “piggi” is a favorite of mine. Especially because it carries the amazing GO480.
As an AP. I'd love to build one!
Thanks for giving attention to these interesting aircraft! However, I believe there is a slight error in your history - I'm almost certain that they were built/based in Tecumseh Michigan, not Wisconsin
Arghh…always messing up something. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
If it just had a swept-back tail, it would be almost perfect. Even the Mooney has a reverse 'sweep" for a tail.
Unique design that enhanced the trim tail.
Sounds like the finest plane never built .
Wow! Never heard of this one. Thanks for sharing.
You bet!
Never heard of it but they do look good.
BEAUTIFUL PLANE...
It sure is!
Nice looking plane and a big engine makes it very valuable. But picking a plane depends on wht you are using it for . I lived/ flew Alaska, so I needed a high wing plane with bush mods. This company would have made a great bush plane. Thanks.
Totally agree
5:00
Stunning
The first safest plane ever build. I have two or three that come in at KSEF to visit
Sebring? One of them might be based near me at KFXE.
Nice story seems the idea was truly ahead of the time. And how the new Rockwell commander 112 & 114 came out...but not as strong or as durable as the Meyers...
I've read the Rockwells are pretty stout actually, but the main idea was that they were profitable (cheaper to build).
If I hadn't had the opportunity to fly a Ruschmeyer R90-230RG (an even rarer bird, also without any AD's) for years, a 200D would have come first. Great airplane...!
Wow!! That's a real unicorn for sure.
Mooney is the best 4 seat aircraft ever built and most economical especially the C, E models with the O or IO 360 Lycoming
Loved my new G.
Flew new ones for dealers.
I don't know about being the best ever built, but it's certainly worthy of being in the discussion.
Beech 35 185 @ 10gph, Hands down the VERY BEST!
1:25 pretty serious factual error, the plant was in Tecumseh Michigan.
The airport there still exists.
I am seriously sorry, please forgive my unthinkable error.
Yes! Tecumseh, Michigan.
Too bad they couldn’t replicate the design with mass production. It’s a beautiful and timeless design.
There are sacrifices to be made with mass production and I'm not sure they'd be able to keep it the same if it were cheap to produce. (look up what Piper did to the Comanche, for example)
Yes,i like the little 145,if they could replicate that in glass fibre would be a seller on looks alone.
If you bought one of these, where could you ever get parts for it?
Very valid question...maybe you need to buy 3?
@@aircraftadventures-vids
Probably. LOL!!
Every single spare part is fabricated by order and the airplane is most likely grounded for most time of the year while you are waiting for the part🤷♂️
Why no mention of the attempt to restart production of the 200 by a Seminoles?
Actually that was sort of the restart of the Meyers 145. It was called Micco Sp20, interesting plane but it’s timeline doesn’t really intersect with the meyers 200
And, the Meyers 145 and 200 are entirely different Type Certificates, owned by different people. They do share the same wing center section, and same wing design, but that’s about it.
@@aircraftadventures-vids Ah, Thanks! I did not realize that the SP20 was not the same as the 200. Only saw one example and that was at the Dayton Airshow around 1988.
Pipistrel panthera all the way👍👍
If not the best it has to be in the top 5 if we are fair to the type. Looks very much like a Navion and that's a design which has been around since the 1950s.
It may have looked like a Navion which has been around actually since the 1940s, but it had a much cleaner airframe, much less wetted surface and a much better wing which creates and is responsible for most of the drag on an airplane. That's why the Meyers was about 40 knots faster. Yeah, it is certainly in the top 5 (along with the Comanche and Bonanza), but it cost too much to build and it had other issues like four separate 20 gallon fuel tanks and one gauge and you could only draw from one at a time, the cabin door had issues and other recurring maintenance. And perhaps the biggest issue was its limited payload, it had a certified gross weight of just 3,000 pounds. Rockwell was in the process of raising that to 3,350 pounds, but the paperwork was never completed. The 200D was essentially a two passenger airplane.
That seems to be the consensus among owners and pilots, but most seem to be content either flying solo or just 2-up anyways.
@@aircraftadventures-vids The solution to the 3,000 pound GW limit for a lot of Meyers owners is to ignore it "slightly." The aircraft had gone through all the testing for the higher gross weight, it just was a paperwork issue to get it raised from what I understand.
@@larryweitzman5163 Thanks for that. It's a type I'd never heard of until I came across this video. A shame no one ever stepped up to put it into series prroduction, it deserves to be much more popular.
@@mothmagic1 Your welcome. It was expensive to build, but today a PA-28 or C172 is expensive. One thing about the Meyers that I never liked was the look of the nose bowl. And a Bonanza is only a little better. Never liked the Meyers cooling duct.
What was the fuel burn? GPH?
I never came close to understanding the hype and mystique around the Meyers - until now, close but still not fully. The term “Ferrari of the skies” has become so popular and applied to so many types it should be “The Volkswagen of the skies” - it’s hard to believe that a giant like Rockwell would purchase the line of aircraft without knowing how it is built!?
I don’t disagree on the cliches but hey whose to argue if you love the plane, lol. As to the Rockwell, yeah that was pretty mind-boggling. As I understand it, the bean counters weren’t involved in the decision till they took notice the numbers weren’t making any sense.
Because Aero Commander wanted to do assembly line, high volume production they had to create all new jigs and tooling. And, to this day, both sets of jigs and tooling still exist (the original, low volume production versions and the Aero Commander versions).
@@deansiracusa3966 thanks for passing through, Dean! 👍
Good for its time.
From an engineering perspective, there is nothing special about this aircraft.
It goes 5-10mph faster than a Bonanza on the same horsepower. But thats because its wing area is only 161.5ft^2 to the Bonanzas 181ft^2. And its gross is given 3,000 vs 3,400-3,600 range for the larger aircraft.
The Bonanza is almost more impressive in its performance and utility due giving up very little in speed to this smaller less practical airplane due to its size.
Steel tube fuselages are over rated. Hundreds of thousands of people have died just as dead in piper cubs and fokker D.VII and hurricanes as any other. Cessnas can smash into power-lines and trees, crew usually survives with no major injuries. And especially bonanzas are remarkably robust with their "keel" and bed mount.
A nice plane, but none of the comments mention payload. And Tecumseh is in Michigan, not Wisconsin.
I know, I've been informed 10x already (and deservingly). As to payload, not 100% sure but it is limited compared to other similar models. Rockwell was seeking to increase it but that never happened.
Tecumseh, MICHIGAN, not Wisconsin. My father owned Meyers-200A #12 and I remember it well.
Try a Bellanca Viking.
Actress Susan Oliver flew one of these babies across the Atlantic solo in 1967
You are joking, right? This thing is an antique. Pales in comparison to advanced aircraft like Cirrus, Velocity and even Mooneys (which are part metal now).
No Cirrus or Velocity in 1958, Mooney's were just coming out but no comparison either (except for being much more efficient fuel-wise).
You’ve clearly never flown one. I’ve flown many Cirrus’s, Mooneys, and even modern experimental aircraft such as Lancairs and Velocity’s. The Meyers was way ahead of the others in its era and flies much more like a modern plane than you’d ever expect. Better even!
I will take my LX7 piston any day
GREAT AIRCRAFT!
I thought it was a Navion.
Long time ago, I did too.
I believe it is Tecumseh, MICHIGAN and not Wisconsin.
I know, am kicking myself over that, lol
02:30 Aaaah the V tail Bonanza, more airframes killed by doctors than any other type.
The Meyers 200 could take 11 G"s structurally.
Really? A pilot couldn't, lol.
Reminds me of the Navion.
He located in Tecumseh, Michigan not Wisconsin.
I flew in one, one time, never again.
What happened?
I thought it was a Navion at first glance LOL
Yeah that canopy can do it.
Looks very close to a Navion