Socata Rallye
| Rallye | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Morane-Saulnier (Socata) Rallye Minerva MS.894A | |
| Role | Tourer/trainer aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | SOCATA |
| First flight | 10 June 1959 |
| Introduction | 1961 |
| Produced | 1961-1982 |
| Number built | ~3,300 |
The SOCATA Rallye was a light aircraft manufactured in France by SOCATA, beginning in the 1960s. It was originally by Morane-Saulnier as the MS.880. It was eventually replaced in production by the Socata TB series in the 1980s, but continued in production in Poland under licence by PZL as the PZL Koliber.
The Rallye is a single-engined, low-wing monoplane of all metal construction, fitted with a fixed landing gear. Tricycle landing gear (free-castering nosewheel, main gear width of 6' 7" or 2.0 m) is standard in all variants except the 235 C, which is available with fixed tailwheel landing gear. Power was from one of a range of progressively more powerful air cooled engines, ranging from a 100 hp (75 kW) Continental O-200-A engine in the Rallye Club, to a 235 hp (175 kW) Lycoming O-540 in the Rallye 235. It has a bulbous cockpit which can accommodate two/three people in the basic lower-powered variants and four in the more powerful aircraft, some of which are designed to be used as glider tugs.
The cantilever wing incorporates nearly full-span automatic leading edge slats, wide-chord slotted ailerons, and wide-span Fowler-type trailing edge flaps.
In 1958, Morane-Saulnier designed a single-engined light aircraft, the MS.880 Rallye Club,in response to a French government competition. The prototype, powered by a 90 hp (67 kW) engine, first flew on 10 June 1959. The first versions, the MS.880B and more powerful MS.885, were certified as airworthy on 21 November 1961.
Morane-Saulnier became part of Sud Aviation in 1965, and was renamed Socata in 1966, continuing to build the Rallye in large numbers through the remainder of the 1960s and through the 1970s. In 1979 Socata embarked on a new production program, and renamed the Rallye series, with each model getting an individual, "more Gallic" name. They were gradually replaced during the 1980s in French production by the Socata TB series, the last (of approximately 3,300) aircraft built by Socata, an armed R235 Guerrier, being delivered in December 1984.
This was not the end of Rallye production however, as Socata had sold a license for production of the Rallye 100ST to the Polish State aviation company PZL, the aircraft being produced in its Warsaw factory as the PZL Koliber (Humming Bird). The first PZL built aircraft flew on 18 April 1978, entering production in 1979, with ten being produced that year.
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