The Fouga Zéphyr (company designation CM.175) was a 1950s French two-seat carrier-capable

jet trainer A jet trainer is a jet aircraft for use as a trainer, whether for basic or advanced flight training. Jet trainers are either custom designs or modifications of existing aircraft. With the introduction of military jet-powered aircraft towards the e ...

for the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. It was developed from the land-based CM.170 Magister. It was replaced in 1994.

Design and development

The

's Aéronavale adopted a derivative of the Fouga CM.170-1 Magister as a basic trainer for carrier operations. Originally designated CM-170M Esquif, the prototype first flew on 31 July 1956, and was redesignated as the CM.175 Zéphyr soon after. Carrier trials were conducted from and off the French coast in August 1957 and March 1958. The Zéphyr differed from the Magister in being equipped with an arrester hook and a modified structure and undercarriage strengthened for carrier operations. The Zéphyr also included a nose-mounted light. As it did not have ejection seats, the Zéphyr had new sliding canopy hoods which could be locked open during carrier launchings and landings. One six-round rocket pod could be mounted under each wing for weapons training. Two guns could be fitted in the nose, but these were seldom carried. Thirty-two aircraft were delivered.

Operational history

The first production aircraft first flew on 30 May 1959 and entered service in October 1959 with 59S the deck landing school at Hyéres. The squadron used only 14 aircraft at a time with the others being kept in short-term storage and periodically rotated to even out the flying hours. In 1962 the unit formed an aerobatic team using the Zéphyr called the ''Patrouille de Voltige d'Hyéres''.

Variants

* CM-170M Esquif - prototype; 2 built. * CM.175 Zéphyr - production version; 30 built.

Operators

; *

** 59 Escadrille de Servitude

Specifications (CM.175)

References

External links

History of the Fouga Zéphyr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fouga CM.175 Zephyr Zephyr

Fouga Magister Fouga (also known as Air Fouga) was a French manufacturing company established by Gaston Fouga at Béziers during 1920. Originally specialising in the repair of railway rolling stock, the firm eventually became most noted for the aircraft it p ...

Twinjets V-tail aircraft Carrier-based aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1956