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Miles was the name used for aircraft and associated businesses of British engineer Frederick George Miles, who, with his wife – aviator and draughtswoman Maxine "Blossom" Miles (née Forbes-Robertson) – and his brother George Herbert Miles, designed numerous light civil and military aircraft and a range of curious prototypes, primarily between 1943 and 1947.
In 1936, Rolls-Royce bought into the company. Although aircraft were produced under the Miles name, it was not until 1943 that the firm became Miles Aircraft Limited when Rolls-Royce's interests were bought out.
The company needed to increase production of the Miles Messenger and to do so it took over a former linen mill in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland for the production of components of the aircraft. A hangar at RAF Long Kesh was used for assembly of the aircraft and flight testing was carried out at the airfield. The company moved to Newtownards following the end of the war in 1946.
The company opened the Miles Aeronautical Technical School in 1943 under the directorship of Maxine (Blossom) Miles "Miles Aeronautical Technical School." Flight, 18 April 1946, p. 398. Retrieved: 24 April 2012. The school had a "Headmaster", Walter Evans. "Miles Aircraft School Issue Title Is Pathe ... 1947." britishpathe.com.Retrieved: 24 April 2012.
In 1948 an application by the Board of Trade for the appointment of an inspector to investigate the affairs of Miles Aircraft Ltd. was granted by Mr. Justice Roxburgh. The B.O.T. case was that when a prospectus was issued in March, 1947 (before the accounts for 1946 were published), the directors should reasonably have been expected to know that all was not well with the company, and when, in August, 1947, a dividend of 7% per cent and a bonus of 24% were recommended, they should reasonably have been expected to know that a big loss was being suffered by the company. "Miles Aircraft." Flight, 13 May 1948. "Miles Aircraft Ltd: alleged issue of false and misleading prospectus: 1947–1950 Reference: MEPO 3/2875." The National Archives (United Kingdom) records. "Miles Aircraft, Limited: HC Deb, vol. 447, cc298-9W." Hansard, 23 February 1948.
Charges were brought against Sir William Malcolm Mount and F. G. Miles. There were 24 charges regarding publication of a Miles Aircraft Ltd prospectus with "false and reckless statements". The trial began on 10 May 1950 at the Old Bailey. "Gemini." Flight, 1947. Retrieved: 24 April 2012. After 17 days of sitting, the jury stopped the case against Miles and Sir William, and they were discharged. They had appeared on charges of inducing people to acquire shares in the company by making a misleading forecast and dishonestly concealing a material fact in a prospectus. According to Flight Magazine, "Twenty of the original 24 counts were thrown out before the defence was reached. The prosecution alleged that the defendants gave a misleading forecast that for 1947 the profit covering the production of aircraft would have been £75,000, whereas there was a substantial loss. It was alleged that they recklessly made the misleading statement that the company had orders on hand which were sufficient to ensure production for the following two years, and that they dishonestly concealed the fact that a profit for the manufacture of aircraft in 1947 was unlikely." Both men said that they believed every word of the prospectus was true. After the acquittal, an application for costs for £20,000 was disallowed. "Miles Case Acquittals." Flight, 8 June 1950 p654 Retrieved: 29 April 2012.
The aviation assets were purchased by Handley Page as Handley Page Reading Ltd. Handley Page produced the Miles-designed M.60 Marathon as the H.P.R.1 Marathon. The Miles Aeronautical Technical School was taken over by the Reading Technical College. Other products in which Miles had interests included photocopiers; this business became Copycat Ltd, which was acquired by the Nashua Corporation in 1963. The Philidas locking nut unit became an independent company. "Philidas." philidasfasteners.co.uk. Retrieved: 2 August 2012. The bookbinding machinery and actuator production were taken over by a specifically formed company, the Western Manufacturing Estate Ltd, the name "Western" referring to its location on the Woodley aerodrome. "Actuator." Flight, 2 August 1945. Retrieved: 24 April 2012. This company later merged with the Adamant Engineering Company Ltd. to form the Adwest Group. Miles also manufactured designed by László Bíró through an associated company, the Miles Martin Pen Co. Ltd.
The company adopted a group structure with subsidiary companies as follows: Meridian Airmaps Ltd (whose collection of aerial photographs forms part of the English Heritage Archive "Aerial photographs." english-heritage.org. Retrieved: 24 April 2012.), Miles Development Products Ltd, Miles Electronics Ltd, Miles Marine & Structural Plastics Ltd and Jet Tanks Ltd. The group was initially based at Redhill, but moved to Shoreham in 1953. "New Miles Directors ." flightglobal.com, 8 May 1953. Retrieved: 1 January 2010. "Royal Visitor to Shoreham." flightglobal.com, 30 May 1958. Retrieved: 1 January 2010.
Miles Electronics was involved in the manufacture of flight simulators; this division merged with the UK arm of the Link Trainer flight simulator company and was later acquired by the Singer Corporation. In 1975 Hunting plc acquired a controlling interest in F. G. Miles Engineering and all its subsidiaries. The company was renamed Hunting Hivolt and Jeremy Miles, the son of Fred Miles (who founded the firm), became a non-executive director on the board.[15] Flight International, 27 November 1975. Other companies included Miles HiVolt Ltd and Miles-Dufon Ltd (this company went into administration on 15 April 1980).
Design work between F. G. Miles Ltd and the French company, Hurel-Dubois, resulted in the HDM.105 – a standard Miles Aerovan fitted with an Hurel-Dubois high-aspect-ratio wing. This work led to the Hurel-Dubois HD.34 and the Short Skyvan series of aircraft.
The aircraft designed by Miles were often technologically and aerodynamically advanced for their time; the M.20 emergency production fighter prototype outperformed contemporary , despite having fixed landing gear. The X Minor was a flying testbed for blended wing-fuselage designs, although the large commercial transport intended to be produced from this research never entered production. The gigantic Miles X Airliner was to seat 55 and have eight engines buried in the wings, driving four sets of contra-rotating props and achieve a range of 3,450 miles. "Eight-engine, 55-seat plane to have a 3,450-mile range." Popular Science, August 1944, p. 38.
The Miles Libellula (named after dragonflies) were experimental tandem-wing designs. A fighter prototype M.35, designed to give the pilot a better landing view, and to fit on aircraft carriers without a need for folding wings, was funded and built by the company (with wood) in only six weeks but was rejected by the Ministry of Aircraft Production. A bomber version was designed, and then a prototype ordered for a "high speed bomber" requirement, but that prototype was never built. Instead, the company built a 5/8th scale version M.39B which was sold to the government for research and testing; it was scrapped after being damaged and the bomber procurement had been cancelled. Tandem-wing designs, with a wing at both ends of an aircraft, reduce centre of gravity problems due to fuel or ammunition usage.
The Miles M.52 was a turbojet-powered supersonic research aircraft project that was cancelled before completion.
| Southern Martlet | 1929 | 6 | ||
| Metal Martlet | 1930 | 1 | ||
| Light cabin twin. Two Cirrus Hermes engines in overwing pusher configuration. Flight, 20 February 1931, p. 156. | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 55 | two-seat light monoplane | |||
| Hawk Major | 1934 | 64 | Hawk successor with de Havilland Gipsy Major engine | |
| M.2E,L,U | Hawk Speed Six | 1934 | 3 | racing version of Hawk Major with de Havilland Gipsy Six engine |
| 25 | two-seat touring and racing monoplane | |||
| 19 | ||||
| 17 | ||||
| 1 modified M.3B | research for the supersonic M.52 | |||
| 4 | ||||
| 5 | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 6 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 900 | advanced trainer | |||
| 50 | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| M.14 | Miles Magister | 1937 | 1,293 | basic military trainer |
| M.14 | Miles Magister | 1937 | 52 | Magister for civil and export sales |
| 2 | Air Ministry Specification T.1/37 | |||
| Miles Mentor | 1938 | 45 | three-seat training and communications monoplane | |
| 11 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 1,699 | advanced trainer | |||
| 2 | prototype low-cost fighter | |||
| design only | designed to F.18/40 specification for a turret-equipped night-fighter | |||
| Miles Master | 1940 | 26 | emergency conversion of trainer design to fighter, retrospectively numbered M.24 "British Aircraft of World War II – Miles Master." jaapteeuwen.com. Retrieved: 1 July 2017. | |
| 1,724 | target tug | |||
| M.26 | 0 | planned 55-seat trans-Atlantic airliner | ||
| 602 | ||||
| 6 | training or communications | |||
| 1 | small-scale prototype for Miles X airline design | |||
| 22 | twin-engined target tug | |||
| 1 | tandem-wing design fighter | |||
| 2 | two-seat trainer | |||
| 80 | liaison and private owner aircraft | |||
| 1 | scale aircraft of tandem-wing M.39 fast bomber design | |||
| M.42 and M.43 | not built | designs tendered for an "Army Direct Support Aircraft" (i.e. a ground attack aircraft). Both tandem wing, one with twin Merlin, other with single Griffon engine.Buttler 2004, pp. 67,71. | ||
| M.44 | not built | another design for the ground attack specification, conventional design with twin MerlinsButtler 2004, p. 71. | ||
| 1 | Messenger development | |||
| M.52 | M.52 | 0 | supersonic research aircraft design | |
| Miles Martinet | 1944 | 65 | unmanned target drone version of Martinet | |
| 48 | STOL transport | |||
| 42 | civil airliner design – would become Handley Page Marathon | |||
| M.63B | not built | Tandem wing jet mailplane "Jet Mail Project." Flight, 16 May 1946, p. 492. | ||
| 1 | Single engined two seat light aircraft | |||
| 170 | private small aircraft | |||
| 1 | transport with detachable cargo container | |||
| Marathon II | 1949 | 1 | Mamba turboprop powered project | |
| M.71 | Merchantman | 1947 | 1 | 4-engined development of Aerovan layout |
| M.75 | Miles Aries | 1951 | 2 | development of Gemini with more powerful engines |
| M.76 | M.76 | 1953 | 1 | development of 2-seat glider for the British Gliding Association |
| 1 | conversion of M.5 Sparrowhawk | |||
| 1 | single engined two seat jet trainer | |||
| M.105 | H.D.M.105 | 1957 | 1 | Aerovan conversion with Hurel Dubois wing |
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