Miles Whitney Straight

The Miles M.11 Whitney Straight was a 1930s twin-seat cabin monoplane designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft. It was named after Whitney Straight, a Grand Prix motor racing driver, aviator and businessman. The aircraft was the first to combine a side-by-side seating arrangement with an enclosed cockpit for the general aviation sector.

The Whitney Straight was developed after F.G. Miles and Straight recognised that they had similar ambitions to develop modern aircraft suited to flying clubs and private owners alike, and thus decided to collaborate on its production. On 14 May 1936, the first prototype conducted its maiden flight at Woodley Aerodrome; quantity production commenced shortly thereafter. Whitney Straights were used in various roles within the civil market, such as air racing and aerial topdressing.

Approaches were also made by Miles to introduce the Whitney Straight into the military market. While not selected as an army cooperation aircraft for the British Army in the pre-war years, numerous civil aircraft were impressed into military service during the Second World War, the type being largely operated as a communications aircraft. While production ended in 1937, several Whitney Straights remained in an airworthy condition into the twenty first century.