Fouga |
CM.170 Magister |
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Photo: Robert
Deering 4/9/2019 Technik Museum Speyer, Germany |
The Fouga CM.170 Magister is a 1950s French
two-seat jet
trainer aircraft, developed and manufactured
by aircraft company Fouga.
Due to industrial mergers, the aircraft has
been variously known as the Fouga CM.170 Magister, Potez (Fouga) CM.170 Magister, Sud Aviation (Fouga) CM.170
Magister and Aérospatiale (Fouga) CM.170 Magister, depending on where and when they were built.
During 1948,
aircraft designers Robert Castello and
Pierre Mauboussin at French aircraft
manufacturer Fouga embarked
upon the design of a
new jet-propelled primary trainer aircraft,
initially designated as the CM.130, intended
for the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air,
AdA) as a replacement for piston-engined Morane-Saulnier
MS.475 aircraft. The AdA reviewed the
project and found that the aircraft lacked
power from the two Turbomeca Palas turbojet
engines selected for the aircraft; in
response, Fouga proceeded to enlarge the
basic design, which was equipped with the
more powerful Turbomeca Marboré engine and
retaining the distinctive V-tail of the Fouga
CM.8 glider, which had been used by Fouga
for jet engine research.
During December
1950, the AdA placed an order for three
prototypes; on 23 July 1952, the first
aircraft conducted its maiden flight. During
June 1953, a pre-production batch of 10
aircraft were ordered, which was followed by
an initial production order for 95 aircraft
on 13 January 1954.[1] By
October 1955, all 13 preproduction Magisters
had been completed, while the first flight
of the first production aircraft was
imminent. Also scheduled to fly early in
1956 was the CM.171, which functioned as a
test aircraft for the envisioned CM.195
swept-wing, butterfly-tailed trainer.[2] In order to
manufacture the type, Fouga opened a new
assembly plant at Toulouse-Blagnac within a
newly-built complex. According to aviation
publication Flight International, any export
orders that were received were typically
given priority over the existing orders
which had been issued by the French
government; this policy allowed for overseas
countries to procure aircraft directly "off
the line" with minimal delay between receipt
of orders and the corresponding deliveries.
The Aéronavale (French
naval air arm) decided to adopt a
carrier-capable derivative of the Magister,
the CM.175 Zéphyr, which served as a basic
trainer for deck-landing training and
carrier operations. These were preceded by
two "proof of concept" prototypes,
designated the CM.170M Magister,
which performed their first flights in 1956
and 1957 respectively.
By 1960, in
excess of 350 Magisters had entered in
service with various operators; according to
Flight International, production within
France had attained a completion rate of
five aircraft per month, while the projected
total of French-built Magisters was
reportedly expected to eventually top 600
units. The type was also being produced
overseas under licensed
production arrangements
in Germany, Finland and Israel. The first
export customer for the Magister was
Germany, who placed an initial order for 62
aircraft directly from Fouga; a further 188
aircraft were produced by Flugzeug
Union Süd (a
consortium of Heinkel and Messerschmitt) under
license. In addition, the Magister was also
constructed under license by Finnish
company Valmet, and by Israeli firm Israel
Aircraft Industries (IAI). As a result of
these arrangements, a combined total of 286
aircraft were completed under license.
From 1960, an
improved version of the Magister, designated
the CM.170-2 Magister, was produced,
which was powered by a more powerful Turbomeca
Marboré IV engine. During 1962, production
of the Magister was terminated in France but
continued to be constructed under licence in Finland up
to 1967. The development of the aircraft had
been brought to an end in response to the
French Air Force selecting the rival Alpha
Jet as its new jet trainer instead.
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