Fouga CM.170 Magister
In 1948, the French Air Force (Armee de l'Air) began considering an all-jet training syllabus for its pilots, as the service began replacing its World War II-era equipment. At the time, France lacked a jet trainer of any type, and Fouga was approached to design one. Their initial attempt, the CM.130, was based on a glider design, but proved to be too small and underpowered. Fouga enlarged it into the CM.170 and replaced the Turbomeca Palas engines with the more powerful Mabore. This met with the AdA's approval, and the CM.170 Magister (Magician) made its first flight in July 1952.
The Magister was certainly sleek, with a long, thin fuselage built low to the ground, thin wings, and a unique V-tail. The use of close-coupled twin engines gave an additional safety margin in case one engine failed. Pilots fell in love with the Magister: its performance equaled its appearance, even if it was still a little underpowered, had something of a low roll rate, and lacked ejection seats. Its handling was superb and easy, maintenance was simple, and despite being a primary trainer, the Magister performed like a fighter. It quickly became France's main trainer: the Aeronavale ordered a navalized version of the CM.170, the CM.175 Zephyr. The AdA's aerobatic team, the Patrouille de France, would fly the Magister for several decades. Eventually, 18 nations would acquire Magisters, and Germany, Finland and Israel would license-build the aircraft.
Though the Magister was a trainer, it had teeth. Fouga always intended the aircraft to be capable of weapons training, and if necessary, light attack duties. Twin machine guns were placed in the nose and hardpoints could be mounted on the wings. Armed Magisters would be used in the 1960s Congolese Wars (by Katanga), the Western Sahara War (by Morocco), and the Salvadorean Civil War (by the El Salvador government). Most famously, they would be pressed into service by Israel in the Six-Day War, where they were used against Arab forces--ironically, often using captured Egyptian rocket pods! Results were mixed in all cases: because the CM.170 lacked ejection seats, getting out of a burning Magister at high speed was problematic at best.
The Magister would remain in service with France and most other nations until the early 1980s, when it was replaced by the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet by most users. Israel's Magisters were continually updated with new, homegrown technology, to the point that the IAI Tzukit license-built version was a Magister only in body. Israel did not replace its beloved Tzukits until around 2008. 929 Magisters were produced, and many have survived in the hands of civilian owners.
This Magister started its career as one of 18 CM.170R trainers supplied to the Finnish Air Force in 1961; Finland would later license-build their Magisters. When the Magister was replaced by the British Aerospace Hawk in the late 1980s, this aircraft was sold on the open market, and bought by a warbird collector in 1987. Though given the civilian designation N604DM, it would retain its Finnish markings and bare metal finish until around 2002, when it was acquired by Worldwide Warbirds of Phoenix, Arizona and repainted. It has remained based at Deer Valley Airport since, and is still flyable.
I made a quick trip over to Deer Valley in June 2022, but unfortunately could not get any closer to the aircraft than the outside airfield fence. I was able to get a fairly decent shot of N604DM, however; this dark blue and yellow scheme, with the skull and crossbones on the tail, gives the aircraft something of an "air pirate" scheme.
Fouga CM.170 Magister
In 1948, the French Air Force (Armee de l'Air) began considering an all-jet training syllabus for its pilots, as the service began replacing its World War II-era equipment. At the time, France lacked a jet trainer of any type, and Fouga was approached to design one. Their initial attempt, the CM.130, was based on a glider design, but proved to be too small and underpowered. Fouga enlarged it into the CM.170 and replaced the Turbomeca Palas engines with the more powerful Mabore. This met with the AdA's approval, and the CM.170 Magister (Magician) made its first flight in July 1952.
The Magister was certainly sleek, with a long, thin fuselage built low to the ground, thin wings, and a unique V-tail. The use of close-coupled twin engines gave an additional safety margin in case one engine failed. Pilots fell in love with the Magister: its performance equaled its appearance, even if it was still a little underpowered, had something of a low roll rate, and lacked ejection seats. Its handling was superb and easy, maintenance was simple, and despite being a primary trainer, the Magister performed like a fighter. It quickly became France's main trainer: the Aeronavale ordered a navalized version of the CM.170, the CM.175 Zephyr. The AdA's aerobatic team, the Patrouille de France, would fly the Magister for several decades. Eventually, 18 nations would acquire Magisters, and Germany, Finland and Israel would license-build the aircraft.
Though the Magister was a trainer, it had teeth. Fouga always intended the aircraft to be capable of weapons training, and if necessary, light attack duties. Twin machine guns were placed in the nose and hardpoints could be mounted on the wings. Armed Magisters would be used in the 1960s Congolese Wars (by Katanga), the Western Sahara War (by Morocco), and the Salvadorean Civil War (by the El Salvador government). Most famously, they would be pressed into service by Israel in the Six-Day War, where they were used against Arab forces--ironically, often using captured Egyptian rocket pods! Results were mixed in all cases: because the CM.170 lacked ejection seats, getting out of a burning Magister at high speed was problematic at best.
The Magister would remain in service with France and most other nations until the early 1980s, when it was replaced by the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet by most users. Israel's Magisters were continually updated with new, homegrown technology, to the point that the IAI Tzukit license-built version was a Magister only in body. Israel did not replace its beloved Tzukits until around 2008. 929 Magisters were produced, and many have survived in the hands of civilian owners.
This Magister started its career as one of 18 CM.170R trainers supplied to the Finnish Air Force in 1961; Finland would later license-build their Magisters. When the Magister was replaced by the British Aerospace Hawk in the late 1980s, this aircraft was sold on the open market, and bought by a warbird collector in 1987. Though given the civilian designation N604DM, it would retain its Finnish markings and bare metal finish until around 2002, when it was acquired by Worldwide Warbirds of Phoenix, Arizona and repainted. It has remained based at Deer Valley Airport since, and is still flyable.
I made a quick trip over to Deer Valley in June 2022, but unfortunately could not get any closer to the aircraft than the outside airfield fence. I was able to get a fairly decent shot of N604DM, however; this dark blue and yellow scheme, with the skull and crossbones on the tail, gives the aircraft something of an "air pirate" scheme.