Overview
Maule (Maule Air, Inc.) is a family-owned American light-aircraft builder in Moultrie, Georgia, known for rugged short-field STOL taildraggers on welded steel-tube-and-fabric airframes. Founded by Belford D. Maule, the company has built its four- and five-seat utility singles since the early 1960s and still hand-builds the current M-7 and M-9 series to order. It remains a low-volume, made-to-order manufacturer rather than a production-line maker.
Heritage
Belford D. “B.D.” Maule began building aircraft parts and fabric-testing equipment as the B.D. Maule Company, founded with his wife June in 1941 in Napoleon, Michigan. His first modern design, the M-4 Bee Dee, was completed in the mid-1950s and FAA-certified in 1961, and the firm was renamed Maule Aircraft Corporation in 1962. In 1968 the company moved to Moultrie, Georgia, drawn by better flying weather and lower costs. After B.D. Maule’s death in 1995 his widow June led the company and stayed active in the factory until her own death in 2009, and the business remains in family hands.
Design Signature
Every Maule shares the same recipe: a welded steel-tube fuselage under fabric, a metal-spar wing, and large flaps that give genuine STOL short-field performance from a light, powerful airframe. The line runs from the Maule M-5 Lunar Rocket to the stretched five-seat Maule M-7 Super Rocket and the heavier M-9, with 180 to 260 hp Lycoming engines, tailwheel or optional tricycle gear, and float and ski options for bush and backcountry work.
For Owners
Maules are prized for short-field capability, field-repairable construction, and rugged simplicity, at the cost of cabin width, fit and finish, and a thinner resale market than the mainstream metal singles. New aircraft are hand-built to order in small numbers, so most buyers shop the large used fleet. The fabric covering carries a periodic recover expense, and the tailwheel and 235 hp-plus engines call for the appropriate endorsements; a pre-buy should weigh fabric age, corrosion in the steel tube, and engine and propeller time.