Monnett Monerai

Last updated
Monerai
MONERAI-S.jpg
Monerai S
General information
TypeSailplane
National originUnited States
Manufacturer Monnett Experimental Aircraft
Designer
Number built100 by January 1984 from 375 kits sold
History
Introduction date1978
First flight1978

The Monnett Monerai is a sailplane that was developed in the United States in the late 1970s for homebuilding. It is a conventional pod-and-boom design with a V-tail and a mid-mounted cantilever wing of constant chord.

Contents

The kit assembles in approximately 600 hours. It has bonded wing skins and incorporates 90° flaps for glide path control. The pod-and-boom fuselage consists of a welded steel tube truss encased in a fiberglass shell, with an aluminum tube for the tailboom. A spar fitting modification was released in 1983. [1]

A powered version was designed as the Monerai P with an engine mounted on a pylon above the wings. A Sachs Rotary Engine was chosen for the prototype. [2] A version with extended wing tips is also available (Monerai Max) which increases the span to 12 m (39 ft) and raises the glide ratio from 28:1 to more than 30:1. [3]

The powered Monerai P and the unpowered Monerai S versions are identical structurally.

Variants

Monerai S
unpowered glider
Monerai P
powered glider equipped with the 22 hp (16 kW) Zenoah G-25 or the 25 hp (19 kW) KFM 107 engine. [3]
Monerai Max
Monerai P version with extended wing tips [3]

Aircraft on display

Specifications (Monerai S)

General characteristics

Performance

References

  1. Moll, Nigel; Comstock, Bryan (May 1983). "Monerai Service Bulletin". Reporting Points. Flying . Vol. 110, no. 5. Ziff Davis. p. 12. ISSN   0015-4806 . Retrieved 15 August 2016 via Google Books.
  2. John Monnett (Oct 1977). "Try a new flavor... the Monerai". Sport Aviation.
  3. 1 2 3 Said, Bob: 1983 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine, page 123. Soaring Society of America, November 1983. USPS 499-920
  4. US Southwest Soaring Museum (2010). "Sailplanes, Hang Gliders & Motor Gliders" . Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  5. "New England Air Museum".
  6. "Monerai Glider (Unregistered)". Shannon Aviation Museum. Retrieved 2025-07-28.