Fouga CM. 170 Magister is a 1950s French two-seat, twin engined jet trainer. The Fouga Magister is one of the first European jet trainers to enter large scale serial production. The Magister sprang from the first works of designer Pierre Mauboussin, who was known for fitting small turbojet engines to light aircrafts and gliders. The prototype, built by the Air Fouga company, made its first flight on 23 July 1952. Its performance impressed the French Air Force so much that they immediately ordered 10 pre-production models, quickly followed by over 400 production aircraft even before the serial production. The Magister was also built under license in several other nations, including Germany, Finland and Israel. In addition, many nations purchased Magisters for trainer and light-attack duties. This aircraft was distinguished from the others with its characteristics of “V” or “butterfly” shaped tail wing. Its production ended in 1967. A total of 929 aircraft were produced by this time. After retirement of Magisters in the 1980s, private warbird collectors began acquiring them to present in the museums

The Magister is of all metal stressed skin construction and powered by a pair of Turbomeca Marboré II turbojet engines, which provided 880 lb of thrust; it was promoted as offering “twin-engine safety with single-engined flying characteristics”. The two engines, which were placed close to the center line, produced very little asymmetric thrust as a consequence; this was viewed as a valuable safety feature for a trainer aircraft. It has wingtip fuel tanks and tandem seat cockpit. The student and trainer sit in separate cockpits under individual rearward-hinged canopies. The aircraft could be fitted with two 7.5-mm or 7.62-mm machine guns in the nose, plus underwing hardpoints for bombs, unguided rockets or the Nord Aviation SS.11 anti-tank missiles.

The wings featured a single spar; hydraulically-actuated one-piece slotted flaps; power-boosted ailerons; and triple air brakes on each wing. The instructor in the back seat had a poor forward view and thus a periscope was fitted on top of the canopy. All landing gear assemblies have single wheels, with the nose gear retracting backwards and the main gear hinging in the wings towards the fuselage. The landing gear is short, simplifying servicing by making most of the aircraft easier for ground crew to access. There was a small bumper wheel in the middle of the tail bottom fin. The cockpit was pressurized and climate-conditioned.

Magister was also used by Belgian “Red Devils”, Irish “The Silver Swallows”, French “The Patrouille de France” flight demonstration teams.

AVION HENRY POTEZ, 1966 Fouga CM.170 Magister with serial number 497 was brought to M.S.Ö. Air & Space Museum with the contributions of Erol ÖZMAN.