SOCATA Horizon

GY-80 Horizon
Role Four-seat touring monoplane
National origin France
Manufacturer SOCATA
Designer Yves Gardan
First flight 21 July 1960
Number built 267
Variants Socata ST-10 Diplomate

The SOCATA GY-80 Horizon is a French four-seat touring monoplane of the 1960s designed by Yves Gardan and built under licence for Sud Aviation by SOCATA at Nantes and Rochefort.

Design and development

Early production Horizon in 1965 after export to Switzerland
Lycoming O-320 engine of a GY-80-160D

This aircraft was designed by well-known French designer Yves Gardan during the 1950s. In the latter part of that decade, Sud-Aviation acquired from Gardan a licence to build the design. The prototype first flew in the summer of 1960,[1] and Sud-Aviation (which later became part of SOCATA) manufactured 267 units by the end of 1969, when production was terminated.

The design uses a low-mounted cantilever wing which incorporates four mechanically operated Fowler-type trailing-edge flaps and two Frise-type ailerons. The tricycle undercarriage was partially retractable (a little more than half of each wheel remains exposed in the retracted position). The basic design used a 150 hp (119 kW) Avco Lycoming O-320 flat air-cooled engine driving a fixed-pitch metal propeller, but later models had a 160 hp version of the O-320 and a constant speed propellor. Later still a 180 hp 0-360 engine with a constant speed propeller was available.

Most Horizons were bought by French pilot owners, but examples were exported to several countries including Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and numbers remain in service in 2014.

An improved variant was developed originally as the Super Horizon 2000 and later went into production as the ST 10 Diplomate.

Operators

 Cambodia
 Khmer Republic

Specifications (GY-80-180 - constant speed propeller)

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1969-70 [2]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Simpson 1991, p. 16
  2. ↑ J W R Taylor 1969, pp.72-73.

Bibliography

  • Taylor, John W R (1969). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1969-70. London: Sampson Low. 
  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. 
  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. 
  • Simpson, R.W. (1991). Airlife's General Aviation. England: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-194-X. 
  • Mondey, David (1981). Encyclopedia of The World's Commercial and Private Aircraft. New York: Crescent Books. p. 232. 
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