Wassmer WA-40

WA-40
Wassmer WA.41 Super Baladou at Thruxton Aerodrome Wiltshire in 1967
Role	Light Aircraft
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Wassmer
First flight	8 June 1959
Produced	1961-1977

The Wassmer WA-40 Super 4 Sancy is a French single-engined light aircraft of the 1960s and 70s. A single-engined low-winged monoplane with retractable nosewheel undercarriage, variants include the more powerful WA 4/21 Prestige and the WA-41 Baladou with a fixed undercarriage.

In 1955, Société Wassmer, which was formed in 1905 as an aircraft repair organisation, opened a design department, subsequently building over 300 Jodel aircraft under license before producing its first fully original aircraft, the WA-40 Super Sancy. This was a low-winged monoplane with a retractable nosewheel undercarriage. The fuselage was of steel tube construction with fabric covering, while the wings were of wooden construction. The first prototype flew on 8 June 1959, receiving French certification on 9 June 1960.

On the 53rd production aircraft (1963), a swept vertical fin and rudder were incorporated (designated WA.40A; first flying in January 1963 and receiving French certification in March 1963); all subsequent units produced continued the swept design.

In 1965 the WA.41, with fixed landing gear was introduced, named Baladou. In March 1967 the Super 4/21 Prestige, powered by a 235 hp (175 kW) Lycoming O-540 engine. The 4/21 used a McCauley variable-pitch propeller, autopilot, electric flaps and IFR instrumentation.

An all-metal derivative design, the CE-43 Guépard (Cheetah) was produced by CERVA, a production company which Wassmer and Siren SA formed. It used the same engine as the Prestige (which by 1971 had been upgraded to a 250 hp Lycoming IO-540).

Wassmer suffered financial difficulty in 1977, and became insolvent in September 1977. By that time the Guépard offered an optional sixth seat, and designers were developing two further variants, the CE.44 Cougar and the CE.45 Léopard. However, due to the liquidation, those developments were not finalized, and no further aircraft were produced after September 1977.

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1969-70

General characteristics

Performance

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