The S.M.A.N. Petrel is a two-seat single-engine microlight amphibian bi-plane.
Development of the Petrel started in 1983 when the French engineer Claude Tisserand
developed and flew an amphibious wooden monoplane. The Petrel, evolved from this early
amphibian design, flew first in November 1986. The wings and fuselages for the Petrel
were manufactured out of carbon and impregnated epoxy resin glass fibre. In 1988, after
a number of modifications and a considerable amount of testing, the S.M.A.N. - Societé
Morbihannaise d'Aero Navigation in France, bought the production rights for the Petrel
and started series-production of the kit for Europe and the U.S.A. In 1990, the EDRA Aeronautica of
Brazil acquired the manufacture rights and nearly 100 Petrel amphibious ultralight aircraft
were built until 1996. In 1996, the EDRA acquired the intellectual properties of the Petrel.
The Petrel was redesigned and in 1997 launched as the Paturi. In 2001, a further development
of the Petrel by Aeronautical Edra in partnership with the Prolazer Ultraleves began.
Resulting in January 2002 with the start of the construction of a new Petrel, the Super Petrel
and the first flight of the new Super Petrel in August 2002. |
On 2 May 1995, S.M.A.N. Pétrel s/n O 55 was registered PH-2T2 in the Netherlands. S.M.A.N. Petrel PH-2T2 is powered by a lightweight Rotax 912
UL DCDI engine. After the CofA expired, the registration PH-2T2 was cancelled on 24 August 2007. The 1995-built amphibian bi-plane was restored
in the register on 10 October 2007, this time as PH-NAT. SMAN Pétrel PH-2T2 was photographed at the former MLA-airfield at
the Maasvlakte near Rotterdam in the Netherlands. This airfield was owned and operated by the Stichting Rijnmond Ultra Light Maasvlakte. |