SIPA S.200 Minijet

The SIPA S.200 Minijet was a French two-seat light sporting jet aircraft, with a single engine jet. This small jet is designed for liaison, training, and aerobatics during 1950s.
Design and development.
The Minijet was built by the Société Industrielle Pour l’Aéronautique (SIPA), which had been founded during 1938 by Emile Dewoitine. The design of the aircraft was begun in February 1951 by Yves Gardan. The first of two prototypes made its maiden flight on 14 January 1952. The SIPA S. 200 was claimed by its manufacture to be the world's first jet powered light touring aircraft.
A pre-production batch of five Minijets was completed in 1955/56, but plans for further construction were cancelled. The Minijet was designed for the dual role of high-speed, short-range liaison and transitional training.
The aircraft had a shoulder-wing and twin booms supporting vertical stabilisers with a tail plane joining the two booms. The cabin was located in the central fuselage nacelle and accommodated two persons side-by-side. The entire canopy hinged forward to assist access to the small cabin. The second prototype was fitted with attachment points for auxiliary wingtip fuel tanks. The Minijets were stressed for aerobatics. Power was by a single 330 lb s.t. Turbomeca Palas jet engine.
Survivors.
The final production SIPA Minijet "F-PDHE" is owned by the Collection Bezard at Persan-Beaumont Airport NW of Paris and can be seen by prior arrangement only. Another survivor exists in the USA.