FOUGA MAGISTER
ON DISPLAY
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I
Report & photos by Sgt Wayne Fitzgerald
n the early hours of Monday the 5th June
members of the Air Corps transported a Fouga
Magister aeroplane (216) from Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel to Clarke Square, in Collins Bks.
The plane was then reassembled and will be on
display in the National Museum of Ireland: Decorative Arts & History and is on loan for the summer
months from the Air Corps Museum & Heritage
Project. "It's a great privilege to be displaying
a Fouga Magister aircraft, we are very grateful to the Air Corps" said a member of the
museum staff.
With its distinctive 'butterfly' tail, the iconic French built Fouga CM 170 Magister was a
1950s two-seat jet and was Fouga's greatest
success with nearly 1,000 constructed. It had
a top speed of: 715km/h, a wingspan of: 12m
and a length of: 10m.
The Fouga Magister has a unique place in
Irish military history: one was used to attack
Irish troops serving as UN peacekeepers in
the Congo in 1961. This lone Fouga was flown by a
Belgian mercenary in the Katangan Air Force who
carried out the bombings and machine gun attacks
on Irish troops. This was the first occasion on which
Irish troops would experience an air attack. The Air
Corps operated six Fouga Magisters (CM170-2) from
1975 to 1999, four of which equipped the
Silver Swallows Aerobatic display team.
The Silver Swallows were famous internationally for winning the Lockheed Martin
Cannestra trophy for 'best display by an
overseas team' at the Royal International
Air Tattoo at Fairford in 1997. This plane is
one of those used by the Silver Swallows.
For more information and history on
both the Fouga Magister and the Silver
Swallows I recommend reading: Fouga
Magister - An Irish Perspective by Joe
Maxwell and Radu Brinzan with original
drawings by Philip Avonds. ISDN: 978-0-9562624-1-7
- 108 Pages, 210 x 297 mm. Price: €22. www.maxdecals.com - joe@maxdecals.com
You can also learn about Ireland's military history
since 1550 at the permanent Soldiers & Chiefs exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland: Decorative Arts & History in Collins Bks. www.museum.
ie/en/exhibition/soldiers-chiefs.aspx
www.military.ie the defence forces magazine
