Cerva CE.43 Guépard

CE.43 Guépard
Role	four/five seat cabin monoplane
Manufacturer	Cerva
First flight	1971
Primary user	French Air Force
Number built	43
Developed from	Wassmer WA.4/21

The Cerva CE.43 Guépard is a 1970s French four/five seat cabin monoplane produced by Cerva.

Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operators 3 Specifications (CE.43 Guépard) 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Design and development

The Cerva CE.43 Guépard (English: Cheetah) is an all-metal version of the Wassmer WA.4/21. The WA.4/21 prototype first flew in March 1967. Construction is a steel-tube with a fabric covered fuselage and plywood-covered wing. Wassmer decided to produce an alternate all-metal version and teamed up with Siren SA to form a joint-company known as Consortium Europeén de Réalisation et de Ventes d'Avions (CERVA). The two aircraft have identical dimensions but the all-metal Guépard is heavier. The prototype Guépard was first flown in May 1971. The aircraft was certified on 1 June 1972 and the French government ordered five aircraft for the Service de la Formation Aéronautique (SFA) and 18 aircraft for the Centre D'Essais en Vol (CEV). First deliveries to private customers began in 1975 and by the time production ended in 1976 43 aircraft had been produced.

Components for the Guépard were manufactured by Siren at Argenton-sur-Creuse and final assembly, equipment fit and flight testing was carried out by Wassmer at Issoire. Two new versions were developed, the CE.44 Couguar (English: Cougar) powered by a 285 hp (213 kW) Continental Tiara 6-285 engine, and the CE.45 Léopard powered by a 310 hp (231 kW) Avco Lycoming TIO-540. Development stopped when the Wassmer company went into liquidation in 1977.

Operators

 France

• French Air Force (Centre D'Essais en Vol)

Specifications (CE.43 Guépard)

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 27 ft 6¾ in (8.4 m)
• Wingspan: 32 ft 9¾ in (10.0 m)
• Height: 9 ft 2¼ in (2.8 m)
• Wing area: 172.23 ft² (16.0 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,863 lb (845 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 3,527 lb (1600 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Avco Lycoming IO-540-C4B5 flat-six piston, 250 hp (186 kw)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 199 mph (320 km/h)
• Range: 1,801 miles (2900 km)
• Service ceiling: 17,390 ft (5300 m)

See also

References

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. 

External links

Aircraft produced by Wassmer and Cerva Wassmer WA-4/21 Prestige • WA-20 Javelot 1 • WA-21 Javelot 2 • WA-22 Super Javelot • WA-26 Squale • WA-28 Espadon • WA-30 Bijave • WA-40 Super IV • WA-41 Baladou • WA-50 • WA-51 Pacific • WA-52 Europa • WA-53 • WA-54 Atlantic • WA-80 Piranha • WA-81 Piranha Cerva CE.43 Guépard • CE.44 Cougar • CE.45 Léopard • CE.75 Silene

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