AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2012 - 62

SPEC SHEET
Maule M–9-235
BASE PRICE: $252,900 PRICE AS TESTED: $285,000
SPECIFICATIONS

Powerplant | Lycoming IO-540-W1A5, 235 hp @ 2,400 rpm Recommended TBO | 2,000 hr Propeller | McCauley 3-blade 80 in. dia constant speed Length | 23 ft 8 in Height | 6 ft 3 in Wingspan | 32 ft 11 in Wing area | 165.6 sq ft Wing loading | 16.9 lb/sq ft Power loading | 11.9 lb/hp Seats | 5 Cabin length | 8 ft 3 in Cabin width | 3 ft 6 in Cabin height | 3 ft 8 in Empty weight | 1,700 lb Empty weight, as tested | 1,706 lb Max gross weight | 2,800 lb Useful load | 1,100 lb Useful load, as tested | 1,094 lb Payload w/full fuel | 590 lb Payload w/full fuel, as tested | 584 lb Fuel capacity, std | 89.6 gal (85 gal usable) 537.6 lb (510 lb usable) Baggage capacity | 170 lb
PERFORMANCE

Takeoff distance, ground roll | 406 ft Takeoff distance over 50-ft obstacle | 791 ft Max demonstrated crosswind component | 12 kt Rate of climb, sea level | 800 fpm Cruise speed/endurance w/45-min rsv, std fuel (fuel consumption) @ 75% power, best economy | 137 kt/5.7 hr 7,500 ft | (78 pph/13 gph) @ 65% power, best economy | 122 kt/6.2 hr 7,500 ft | (72 pph/12 gph) Service ceiling | 20,000 ft Landing distance over 50-ft obstacle | 900 ft Landing distance, ground roll | 250 ft
LIMITING AND RECOMMENDED AIRSPEEDS

VX (best angle of climb) | 65 KIAS VY (best rate of climb) | 78 KIAS VA (design maneuvering) | 109 KIAS VFE (max flap extended) | 82 KIAS VNO (max structural cruising) | 126 KIAS VNE (never exceed) | 156 KIAS VS1 (stall, clean) | 53 KIAS VSO (stall, in landing configuration) | 43 KIAS
FOR MORE INFORMATION

Maule Air, 2099 Georgia Highway 133 South, Moultrie, Georgia 31768; telephone 229/985-2045; www.maulairinc.com; email sales@mauleairinc.com.
All specifications are based on manufacturer’s calculations. All performance figures are based on standard day, standard atmosphere, sea level, maximum gross weight conditions unless otherwise noted. 62 | AOPA PILOT July 2012

and double doors at the cargo area. Those cargo doors can be removed before flight, causing AOPA photographer Chris Rose to declare the Maule the best photo platform he has ever seen. Well, there is one tiny additional difference. The landing gear is “gun” drilled, meaning there is a hole inside both main aluminum-spring gear running from the fuselage to the wheels, eliminating the need for an external brake line. “New” is also a relative term. Back in the early 1990s, B.D. Maule participated in the design of the M–9 demonstrator flown for this article. Construction began in 2003, when his widow, June, ran the company. The aircraft attended its first airshow in 2007 as a “prototype.” Despite the economy, “We keep on trucking,” says Brent Maule. An order this year for 10 aircraft slightly surpasses deliveries for last year, although parts sales have sustained the company. Many of those parts are headed to South America, Europe, Russia, and Mongolia. The Maule has been in continuous production since 1962. Little has changed since the company moved to Moultrie from Napoleon, Michigan. In the early years at Moultrie, B.D. lifted off inside the present-day hangar and flew out the door to show off his aircraft’s short takeoff capability. One of those takeoffs had a scary moment when he got too high to get out the door (see “Takes Off Like a Rocket,” page 63). Changes since then include a new paint booth from Italy that addressed complaints about flaking paint, and a third hangar that has never trembled from the roar of a Maule at full takeoff power. An Irish setter still considers the factory its doghouse, but it isn’t Lady, the dog that followed B.D. Maule everywhere he went. Now it’s Dillon, owned by company employee Mike Jones. Dillon achieved fame by evicting cats from the deteriorating first Maule ever built, which resides in a dusty corner of the factory (see “Cat Smackdown,” page 64). The rocking chairs placed strategically around the factory where B.D.
http://www.mauleairinc.com
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2012

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