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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 2275.PDF
6i6 FLIGHT This view, with the author in the cockpit, clearly shows the clean, lively lines of the S.902, which is almost suggestive of a baby fighter. "FLIGHT" PHOTOGRAPHS By E. A. G. RUMBELOW SIPA 902 in the Air First of a New Series on French Aircraft: Lively Performance of a Two-Seat Trainer IN keeping with the general attitude of enterprise andinitiative which they have always shown in aviationmatters—more particularly in the non-military field—the French were astute enough to realize, about two years ago., the importance of injecting new life-blood into their private- flying movement. One of the major troubles at the time was a dearth of suitable training aircraft among the flying clubs, most of which were still struggling to maintain inadequate and astonishingly mixed fleets of overworked and obsolete types. In France, however, private-flying enthusiasts are fortunate in having a complete government department at their disposal which—obviously having an eye to the potential value of the movement in times of emergency—looks after the interests of, and endeavours to foster the growth of, sporting flying generally. It was this department, the Services de l'Aviation Legere et Sportive, which some time ago arranged a design competition for two-seat primary trainers. The joint winners proved to be the SIPA S.901 and the N.C. 853, and initial orders were placed for 100 machines of each type, to be delivered to the clubs without delay. Deliveries began earlier this year and at the time of a recent visit which I paid to France most of the machines were already in the hands of the clubs. The S.901 had already attracted attention during its appearances at the Brussels and Paris aeronautical exhibitions in 1950 and 1951. It had shown itself to be a neat and lively THIS is the first of a series of air-test reports on contemporary Continental aircraft. By reason of the fact that these machines will be dealt with in national categories, these articles will not form part of our normal "In the Air" series. little trainer of particularly engaging lines. What seemed even more important to my mind, however, were claims that, in addition to being an ideal trainer, it made a delightfully comfortable touring aircraft with side-by-side seating and—having the aerodynamic cleanness of a scaled-down fighter—was also a "natural" for racing purposes. I was particularly keen, therefore, to gain some air experienco on the type. The machine delivered to the French clubs—the S.901, powered by a 75 h.p. Minie engine—is actually a develop- ment of the original S.90 prototype (75 h.p. Mathis), ten production versions of which were built. There are also two other variants, the S.902, whose 85 h.p. Continental engine gives a slightly improved performance, and the experimental S.93, fitted with a 90 h.p. Salmson radial. Despite the large frontal area of the latter, the higher power is said to give the S.93 an extra 10 km/hr on its cruising speed. I decided that the 902 would probably be of the greatest interest, as this is the variant which has been earmarked for export, and is therefore more likely to be seen around Europe than are the other versions. After the necessary arrangements had been made, one foggy afternoon at Villacoublay I sorted out a 902 from the midst of a flock of 901s (one needs a second A possibly unfair impression, aesthetically, cf the 902's frontal aspect. Note the neat arrangement of carburetter and oil-cooler intakes. The rearward-sliding moulded canopy allows unimpeded access to the cockpit. A car-door-type handle is fitted.
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