Artcurial is holding a space and aviation auction in January, as they do every 18 months and as with previous auctions it will be hugely anticipated by European aviation collectors. The sale is entitled: From the Earth to the Moon: the icons of the era of supersonic aerospace and conquest.
| What a Fouga Magister can do in the right hands (The Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle is inessential) |
Taking place on January 29, the auction includes 450 lots covering all aeronautical passions and lifestyle books, posters, watches and aircraft instruments large beautiful models, parts and engines, from furniture design aircraft, Concorde parts and memorabilia.
The greatest highlight of the sale will be the aircraft Fouga CM 170 Magister, a true legend of the military and civil aviation, delivered in working condition.
With 929 examples built in the early '50s, it has been used by over twenty countries as an aerobatic aircraft including the famous Patrouille de France for 24 years (1956 to 1980).
The Fouga will actually be on display in the courtyard of the Hôtel Marcel Dassault in Paris.
 The wonderful Fouga Magister CM170 plane (est €60,000-80,000) in action |
The aircraft was designed by the duo of Robert Castello and Pierre Mauboussin for the Potez Air Fouga Company. It is equipped with two Turbomeca Marboré turbojet engines which have been installed in pods on either side of the fuselage.
These little turbojet engines became a legend in aviation, powering air forces from 22 countries.
Outstanding technical capabilities in aerobatics and air weapons, reliability and manoeuvrability allowed the Fouga to experience military life with about 12,000 pilots trained on the Magister.
In France, it was retired in 1996 after 40 years of service and began a second life in civil aviation as part of a collection. The model is popular with private pilots and it is not uncommon to see an illustration of its evolution at air shows and on the grounds of the Aero Club of France.
One hundred Fougas still fly in the United States and ten in France, including this one. The buyer will be presented with the military and civil papers, and the Fouga still has a capacity of around 700 hours flight.
It's remarkable that this piece of aviation history was brought into service just a few years after the death of the longer-lived of the two Wright Brothers, Orville Wright. Collectors looking for a genuine piece of aviation history but unwilling to buy a plane will want to take a look at this cheque bearing Wright's autograph.
