Mystere | |
---|---|
Prototype S45 Mystere landing at Lachute Airport in 2004 | |
Role | Two-seat homebuilt monoplane |
National origin | Canada |
Manufacturer | Partenair Design |
Designer | Saleem Saleh |
First flight | 16 November 1996 (S44) 4 October 2001 (S45) |
Status | Kits no longer available |
Number built | 3[1][2][3] |
The Partenair Mystere is a Canadian two-seat, pusher configuration monoplane that was designed by Partenair Design of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec and intended for amateur construction from kits.[1][4][5]
Two prototypes were completed and flown and one kit delivered before the project was ended. One customer-built S45 was eventually completed and first flew on 10 November 2015.[1][2][3]
The Mystere is an all-composite, low-wing monoplane powered by a pusher piston engine. It has a pod and boom configuration with a T-tail and a fixed tricycle landing gear with wheel pants.[4] The cockpit has room for two occupants in tandem with dual controls and a two-piece canopy and windscreen.[4]
The prototype S44 Mystere first flew on 16 November 1996 powered by a Rotax 912 engine.[4] The second prototype S45 was powered by a 160 hp (119 kW) Lycoming IO-320 flat-four piston engine and first flew on 4 October 2001.[4]
The kit was to be supplied in three sub-kits made from primer-surfaced parts of low-odour epoxy. The construction time from the kit was estimated to have been 1,000 hours.[5][6][7]
The prototype Partenair S44 Mystère was involved in a fatal accident on 24 October 1998. While departing Montréal/Les Cèdres Airport, the Rotax 912 engine failed and the aircraft impacted the ground, killing both occupants.[9]
This accident led to the aircraft being redesigned as the S45 with a Lycoming O-320 engine replacing the Rotax powerplant. Kitplanes magazine described the subsequent S45 as a "repowered aircraft for better overall performance and reliability".[5]
Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 2003-04, Kitplanes and The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage[4][5][10]
General characteristics
Performance