The Minicab is a conventional, low-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed tailwheel undercarriage, powered by a Continental A65 engine. Its design was a scaled-down version of the aircraft that Yves Gardan had designed for SIPA, the SIPA S.90. The pilot and passenger sit side by side and access to the cockpit is via a one-piece perspex canopy that hinges forwards. Gardan's intention was to produce a low-cost, easy-to-fly, easy-to-maintain aircraft with the possibility of homebuilding.[3]
The prototype Minicab first flew at Pau-Idron on 1 February 1949 with Max Fischl at the controls. CAB manufactured a total of about 65 Minicabs when production ended in 1955.[4] The rights for the plans were then acquired by Arthur Ord-Hume in the United Kingdom who anglicised the drawings and made various minor improvements for home-builders.[1] A large number were completed by amateur builders in the United Kingdom, France and other countries around the world.[3] There is about 20 Minicabs currently active in the United Kingdom, many of which were built (or rebuilt) to the JB.01 standard, developed by M. Jean Barritault, usually with a Continental C90 engine.
Falconar sold plans for a tricycle gear homebuilt model named the Minihawk.[5] Another development is the K&S or Squarecraft Cavalier which is a redesigned Minicab in several versions with plans translated from French to English and modified by Stan Mcleod. The plans were marketed by K&S Aircraft of Calgary, Alberta and later MacFam.[6]
Type certification was obtained in mid-April 1949. By the end of 1950, a Minicab had won the Coupe de Vitesse de Deauville (Deauville Cup for speed), and the Grand Prix Aérien de Vichy (Vichy Aerial Prize). The following year, a Minicab broke the world air distance record for its class (1,825 km, 1,138 miles) and in 1952 it attained the world airspeed record for its class over a 2,000 km circuit, with an average speed of (183 km/h, 114 mph).
One Minicab, G-AWEP, was flown by the ex-RAF fighter pilot Roland Beamont who was a test pilot at BAC Samlesbury. He made its first flight in 1969 and wrote that "the Minicab felt light and very responsive... landing required the delicate touch of a Spitfire pilot. In fact the overall control harmony is not dissimilar to that classic aeroplane".[7]