Fouga Magister
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Magister | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| A Belgian Air Force Fouga Magister | |
| Type | Jet trainer |
| Manufacturer | Fouga |
| Primary users | French Air Force Israeli Air Force Luftwaffe Finnish Air Force Belgian Air Force |
| Number built | 929 Air Fouga: 576 Heinkel-Messerschmitt: 194 IAI: 30 Valmet: 62 |
The Fouga Magister was a 1950s French two-seat jet trainer, and the world's first purpose-built two-seat turbojet-powered trainer aircraft.
Contents |
[edit] Development
In 1948, Fouga designed a jet-powered primary trainer called CM.130 for the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air, AdA) to replace piston-engined Morane-Saulnier MS.475 aircraft. When AdA found the aircraft lacking in power from the two Turbomeca Palas turbojets, Fouga enlarged the basic design and used the more powerful Turbomeca Maraboré engine. The distinctive V-tail of the new CM.170 Magister originated on the CM.8 glider Fouga was using to experiment with jet engines. In December 1950, AdA ordered 3 prototypes, with the first aircraft flying on July 23, 1952. A pre-production batch of 10 were ordered in June 1953 followed by the first production order for 95 aircraft on 13 January 1954. Fouga built a new assembly plant at Tolouse-Blagnac to produce the aircraft. The aircraft entered service with AdA in 1956.
Due to different industrial mergers, the aircraft can be defined as the "Fouga CM.170 Magister", "Potez (Fouga) CM.170 Magister", Sud (Fouga) CM.170 Magister" or "Aérospatiale (Fouga) CM.170 Magister" depending on where and when they were built.
The first export customer was Germany who ordered 62 aircraft from Fouga and Flugzeug Union Süd licence built a further 188 aircraft. In addition the CM.170 was built under license by Valmet in Finland, and Israel Aircraft Industries in Israel, with a total of 929 built. Of these 286 were completed under license.
The French Aeronavale adopted the Magister as a basic trainer in carrier operations. The aircraft was designated the CM.175 Zephyr and was equipped with an arrester hook and a modified undercarriage. 32 aircraft were delivered.
An improved version of the Magister designated the CM.170-2 Super Magister was produced from 1960. It used a more powerful Turbomeca Maraboré IV engine. Production of the Magister stopped in France in 1962 but continued to be built in Finland up to 1967.
The development of the aircraft came to an end when the French Air Force selected the Alpha Jet as their new jet trainer.
[edit] Operational history
[edit] Israel
The Israeli Air Force operated a licence manufactured version, the IAI Tzukit. This aircraft participated in the Six-days War.
[edit] Finland
In 1958-1959 Finland purchased 18 Fouga Magisters from France. At the same time they also obtained a manufacturing license. The Finnish aircraft manufacturer Valmet later built 62 Fouga aircraft between 1958-67. The French built aircraft carried the designations FM-1...-18 and the Finnish built FM-21...-82. The aircraft was a jet trainer in the Finnish Air Force between 1958-1988. Twenty-one Fouga Magisters were destroyed in accidents, six with deadly outcome.
[edit] Belgium
The Belgian Air Force operated 50 Magisters as primary trainers. The stunt team The Red Devils also used them as display aircraft. A small number of Magisters remain in use as of 2007, as flight maintenance aircraft for senior officers. The Belgian Air Force is the last country that uses his Magisters for full duty. They will go out of duty in 2007.
[edit] Variants
- CM.170 Magister - three prototypes and 10 pre-production aircraft.
- CM.170-1 Magister - first production version with Turbomeca Marboré II engines, 761 were built including 188 in West Germany, 62 in Finland and 50 in Israel.
- CM.170-2 Super Magister - uprated Marboré IV engines with 4.7 kN (1,055 lbf) thrust each, 137 built.
- CM.171 Makalu - enlarged airframe, Turbomeca Gabizo engines with 10.8 kN (2,422 lbf) thrust each, the only prototype lost in an accident on March 20, 1957
- CM.173 Super Magister - Marboré Super VI engines with 5.1 kN (1,143 lbf) thrust each and ejection seats, 137 built. Flown in France, Ireland and Lebanon
- CM.175 Zephyr - equipped with arrestor hook for French Navy, 32 built
- IAI Tzukit or AMIT Fouga - Israeli Air Force version, permanent weapon hardpoints under the wings for light attack capability
- Fouga 90/90A - attempt to modernize the aircraft with Turbomeca Astafan engines with 7.6 kN (1,715 lbf) thrust each, reshaped canopy for better visibility, and upgraded avionics. 90A was equipped with a 790 kp Turbomeca Astafan engine; both versions failed to attract orders
[edit] Specifications (CM.170-1)
General characteristics
- Crew: One or two
- Length: 10.06 m (33 ft 0 in)
- Wingspan: 12.15 m with wingtip fuel tanks (39 ft 10 in)
- Height: 2.80 m (9 ft 2 in)
- Wing area: 17.3 m² (186.1 ft²)
- Empty weight: 2,150 kg (4,740 lb)
- Loaded weight: 2,850 kg (6,280 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 3,200 kg (7,050 lb)
- Powerplant: 2× Turbomeca Marboré IIA turbojets, 3.9 kN (875 lbf) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 715 km/h at 7,000 m (444 mph at 23,000 ft)
- Range: 925 km (575 miles)
- Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,080 ft)
- Rate of climb: 17 m/s (3,345 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 165 kg/m² (34 lb/ft²)
- Thrust/weight: 0.28
Armament
- 2x 7.5 mm or 7.62 mm machine guns, 200 rounds/gun
- Up to 140 kg (310 lb) of weapons on 2 underwing hardpoints, including 50 kg (110 lb) bombs, unguided rockets, and Nord Aviation SS.11 anti-tank missiles.
[edit] Users
Algeria: Algerian Air Force (28 ex-German aircraft)
Austria: Austrian Air Force (18 aircraft)
Bangladesh: Bangladeshi Air Force (8 ex-German aircraft)
Belgium: Belgian Air Force (50 aircraft)
Brazil: Brazillian Air Force (7 aircraft)
Cambodia: (4 aircraft)
Cameroon: Cameroon Air Force (4 ex-French aircraft)
El Salvador: El Salvador Air Force (9 ex-Israel aircraft)
Finland: Finnish Air Force (80 aircraft (18 new and 62 licensed production))
France:
- French Air Force (397 aircraft)
- French Navy (30 Zephyr aircraft)
Gabon Gabonese Air Force (5 ex-German aircraft)
West Germany: Luftwaffe (250 aircraft (62 new and 188 licence production))
Ireland: Irish Air Corps (7 ex-Austrian and French aircraft)
Israel: Israeli Air Force (52 aircraft (16 new and 36 licence production))
Lebanon: Lebanese Air Force (8 ex-German aircraft)
Libya: Libyan Arab Air Force (12 ex-French aircraft
Morocco: Royal Morroccan Air Force (21 new, ex-French and ex-German aircraft)
Netherlands
Rwanda: Rwandan Air Force (3 ex-French aircraft)
Senegal: Sengalese Air Force (5 ex-Brazilian aircraft)
Togo: Togolese Air Force (4 ex-German aircraft)
Uganda: Ugandan Air Force (12 ex-Israel aircraft)
Zaire: (4 aircraft)
[edit] Combat
When Congo became independent from Belgium in 1960, the secessionist movement in the province of Katanga rebelled against the legitimate central government. Their miniscule air force was equipped with a few Fouga Magisters among other aircraft. ONUC, the UN operation to safeguard the survival of the Congolese state 1961-64, fielded one squadron of Swedish SAAB Tunnan and one of Ethiopian F-86, which consistently outperformed the Katangese Magisters in the air.
They were also used to great effect by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War against Jordanian armoured forces, albeit with heavy casualties.
[edit] References
- Kopenhagen, W (ed.) (1987) Das groβe Flugzeug-Typenbuch. Transpress. ISBN 3-344-00162-0
[edit] Related content
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