title: Midwest MU-1
text: # Midwest MU-1
  
  The Midwest MU-1 was an American single-seat, high-wing, strut-braced utility glider that was designed by Arthur B. Schultz in the 1930s.
  
  ## Design and development
  
  The MU-1 was designed by Schultz prior to the Second World War and was used by the United States Army Air Corps for glider training and designated as the Midwest TG-18.
  
  The MU-1 was constructed with a welded steel tube fuselage and a wooden-framed wings, all covered in doped aircraft fabric covering. The wing was of 36 ft (11.0 m) span, employed a NACA 4412 airfoil and was supported by two parallel struts with jury struts. Landing gear was a fixed monowheel.
  
  The aircraft was type certified on 13 October 1944 and about six were completed by Midwest Sailplane and possibly also by the Motorless Flight Institute of Chicago, Illinois.
  
  ## Operational history
  
  In 1983 Soaring Magazine reported that two MU-1s were still in existence, but in October 2015 only one was on the Federal Aviation Administration registry.
  
  ## Variants
  
  ### MU-1
  
      Standard model with 36 ft (11.0 m) wingspan and 172 sq ft (16.0 $m^2)$ wing area
  
  ### MU-1 long-wing
  
      Version with a longer span, double-tapered wing of similar wing area. This model may have been a proposal only as completed examples have not been confirmed.
  
  ### Schultz ABC
  
      Developed from the MU-1, the ABC has a longer wingspan and higher glide ratio. It won the 1937 Eaton Design Competition
  
  ### TG-18
  
      Military designation for impressed MU-1 gliders used for glider pilot training.
  
  ## Operators
  
  ### Military
  
  * United States Army Air Corps
  
  ## Specifications (MU-1)
  
  Data from Soaring and Glider Type Certificate 16
  
  General characteristics
  
  * Crew: one
  * Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)
  * Wing area: 172 sq ft (16.0 $m^2)$
  * Aspect ratio: 7.5:1
  * Airfoil: NACA 4412
  * Empty weight: 323 lb (147 kg)
  * Gross weight: 513 lb (233 kg)
  
  Performance
  
  * Never exceed speed: 80 mph (130 km/h, 70 kn)
  * Maximum glide ratio: 15:1 at 36 mph (58 km/h)
  * Rate of sink: 174 ft/min (0.88 m/s) at 30 mph (48 km/h)
  * Wing loading: 3 lb/sq ft (15 $kg/m^2)$
  