The prototype was designated the Maschelin M58 Masquito. It was a conventional pod and boom design and was powered by a 640NaN0 Rotax 582 engine driving a two-bladed main rotor and a two-bladed tail rotor. It had two side-by-side seats and was fitted with two fixed skids as a landing gear. The M58 first flew in May 1996; it was later modified to the proposed production standard with a Jabiru 2200 engine and re-designated the M80. Three further M80 prototypes were built but the type failed to gain the appropriate certification and no others were produced.
A Belgian company, D-Motor was set up to design and build a suitable motor for the M80. Two engines with a high power-to-weight ratio were produced: first, the D-Motor LF26 (a 920NaN0 flat four) and, later, the D-Motor LF39 (a 1250NaN0 flat-six). Unlike the Jabiru motor, these Belgian horizontally-opposed engines have fuel-injection, liquid-cooling and, having side-valves, are ultra-compact, .