Type History

During the latter 1940's, the introduction of increasing numbers of single seat jet fighters like F80, F84, DH100 Vampires and Gloster Meteors led the rethinking of the pilot training schemes. The propeller driven trainers then in use, primarily T6 Harvards, were no longer adequate to prepare the pilots for the new techniques of flying required by the jets. Several factors distinguished the jets from the propeller aircrafts. Three main factors were 1) the slow response of the early jet engines with up to 15 sec. spool up time from idle to full thrust, 2) the absence of propeller drag to reduce speed during descend, and 3) the close envelope of operation at high altitude between stall speed and mach buffet unset speed.

Until early 1950's this lead to development of two seated versions of single seat fighters (F80 became the T33, MIG15 the MIG15uti, the DH100 Vampire the DH115 Vampire T11). Two French aircraft designers, however, chose a different strategy. Robert Castello and Pierre Mauboussin, who in the middle of the 1930's had developed gliders, were from 1944 included in the Fouga company producing sailplanes under the name Castel. In 1949 they wanted to make a motorised sailplane and contacted Joseph Sydlowsky, together with André Planiol, the founder of Turboméca. After much developmental work, later aimed at producing testbeds for turbojet engines, they ended up with a glider made up from two airframes, the CM-88-R Gémeaux with two Piménée engines flying first time on 6th of March 1951. Because of the good results with the two engines an airframe (CM130-R), put on shelf in 1949 due to the lack of a good engines (and money), was developed further, got Mabore II engines, and this became the well known Fouga CM170 Magister who made its first flight on 23th of July1952 and had the well known "butterfly tail". The prototype was followed by a second prototype having a conventional tail, but this was later changed back to the original design in the third prototype. Six prototypes and 10 pre-series aircrafts were built with only minor modifications. The first production model flew on the 20th of January 1956.

Thus the French Fouga CM170 Magister in 1952 became the first jet trainer and light jet attack aircraft in the world later followed by types as the BAC Jet Provost (1954), Cessna T37 (1954), MS760 Paris (1954), HA-200 Saeta (1955), Aermacchi MB326 (1957), Fuji T1 (1958), North American T2 Buckeye (1958), L29 Dolphin (1959), CL41 Tutor (1960), TS11 Iskra (1960), G2-A Galeb (1961), SAAB105 (1963), HAL HJT16 Kiran (1964) ­ and much later the Aero L-39/L59/L159 Albatros, BAE Hawk and Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet.

In France the "Ecole de L'air" ordered 48 Fouga Magisters between 1956 and 1958. The "Ecole de Chasse" ordered another 40 between 1958 and 1959. A special version, the CM175 Zephir with stronger landing gear and arrestor hook, was made first flown in 1959 for the French Navy for pilot conversion for carrier training. In 1958 Ets. Henry Potez took over Air Fouga and the name was changed to Potez-Air. In 1966 they became part of Sud-Aviation and a few years later Aérospatiale, now EADS.

Fouga Magisters have been built under licence by Heinkel-Messerschmitt in Germany, Valmet OY in Finland and IAI in Israel. The total number built is 929 of which 130 are with the stronger Marboré VI engines, and 32 are CM175's. The Germans installed the Martin-Baker GZ-4 ejection seat in three aircrafts, but abandoned the idea, otherwise the aircraft is without "hot seats". Several versions were developed like the French Fouga 90 and the German Potez-Heinkel 191, but they never went into production.