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I'm not an engine man but I've worked on both & knew there was a relationship.* The Cirrus & Gipsy engines were designed by the same man, Frank B Halford. http://100.rolls-royce.com/people/view.jsp?id=118
He originally worked as a freelance engine design consultant to various companies including DH until 1944 when he was put in charge of the new DH Engine Company. He also designed the Napier Sabre & was responsible for the DH range of jet engines. Quite a man.

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Not intentionally Jared my old friend. Glad I posted these now.

*PS. Found what I was looking for. The original Cirrus was half an Airdisco V8 & used some identical parts for economy. There were plenty of surplus spares available at the time. http://www.compare-tigermothflights.co.uk/html/tigermoth_history_00.html Quote:

When the spares dried up he designed the Gipsy as a replacement.

I can only find 3 airworthy examples on the UK register. G-AKHP, G-AKKB & G-AKKH. I know there's another one in Belgium* but as most Miles airframes are all-wood construction they deteriorate with age, especially in humid climates & when stored outside. The main problem is not the wood itself but failure of the old-fashioned glues used in their construction. The plywood covering also tends to delaminate.

*PS. http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=203408

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According to the engine section of "British Light Aeroplanes" the Cirrus line (neé Aircraft Disposal Company Ltd -> Cirrus Aero engines -> Cirrus Hermes -> Blackburn ) was started before the DH Gipsy line.  DH apparently went to Czechoslovakia, and the resulting Gipsy bore a resemblance to the Walter inverted 4cyl.

Howver, given the state of aero-engineering at the time, I think that it was natural that the inverted 4 cyl engines all appeared similar.

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That agrees with what I posted above. Both engines were designed by Frank B Halford who worked as a consultant to various companies including the Aircraft Disposal Company (ADC or AirDisCo) & DH. It's a fascinating story. The Cirrus line originated from Halford's 120 hp Airdisco V8 engine fitted to the DH.51, regarded as the ancestor of the DH Moth. http://www.shuttleworth.org/html/shuttleworth/air17.htm
The Airdisco engine had in turn been developed from the Renault V8 fitted to the Maurice Farman MF.11 Shorthorn. Renault aero engines had also been manufactured by the RAF (Royal Aircraft Factory). As ADC was involved with war surplus aircraft & aero engines I imagine it used as many original Renault parts as possible. The first Cirrus engine was basically half the Airdisco V8 with a new crankcase & crankshaft on the suggestion of Geoffrey de Havilland. When spares inevitably started to dry up, DH asked his old friend Halford to design a brand new replacement which became the first DH Gipsy engine. It's quite possible it was influenced by other similar types.

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Thanks Doug. Yes the main gear retracts rearwards into the enlarged engine nacelles. It's electrically retracted by a Miles designed actuator.  Although not completely covered I think the wheels retract completely & not partially as on the DC-3. You can see this from the design of the trailing 'knuckle' suspension Felix mentioned earlier. (The earlier single-engined Messenger had fixed gear.)

I've not heard the Gemini was underpowered but I don't know about the single engined performance. I can vouch for the fact that the original production 1a can comfortably carry 4 hefty great blokes. The Mk 3a had 145 hp Gipsy Majors but only 6 were built. The protoype was converted into the only Mk 2 with the Continental C-125-2 & there was also a more powerful version named the Aries fitted with Cirrus Major III 155 hp engines. I think only a couple of these were built & I sadly witnessed one being written off while taking off from the flooded runway at Shoreham during the winter, probably 1961/62. Everyone aboard got out without a scratch but a well-known test pilot was instantly dismissed over the incident.

PS. History of the Aircraft Disposal Company at Croydon. http://www.aviationbooksbygms.com/Bookmnth.html