General Aircraft Cagnet Explained

The General Aircraft GAL.33 Cagnet was a British light trainer aircraft designed by General Aircraft Ltd which flew from 1939 to 1941. Only one example was constructed.

Design

The Cagnet was a two-seat pusher propeller aircraft. The side-by-side seating was in an open cockpit just ahead of the strut-mounted inline engine. The low cantilever wings featured a gull shape, with twin booms mounted, one at each wing's bend point. A horizontal stabilizer and elevator ran between twin fins with rudders, one at the end of each boom.

The fixed landing gear used a nosewheel. First flight was in 1939; the aircraft bore the serial number T46.

General Aircraft proposed the Cagnet as a basic trainer. It was tested as a Flying Observation post trainer by the Royal School of Army Co-operation from February through June 1940 (with military serial number W7646). After that testing, it underwent various other tests. Its final flight was in 1941.

The engine was a 90hp Blackburn Cirrus Minor, which gave a cruising speed of 100 mph (160 km/h).

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