Mistral Engines

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Mistral Engines SA was a Swiss developer and manufacturer of wankel rotary aviation light aircraft, helicopter and unmanned military vehicle engines. [1] Its headquarters was in Geneva, Switzerland [2] and was majority owned by DEA General Aviation, a Chinese company based in Guangdong. [3] [1] A wholly owned subsidiary company was headquartered in DeLand, Florida. [4]

Contents

History

Mistral Engines formed in 2001 in Switzerland with the purpose of developing engines for light aircraft and helicopters. [5]

The CEO of Mistral Engines was Phillippe Durr, [2] and in March 2010, Ana Fontes became the company’s Marketing and Americas Sales Director. [6]

In March 2010, Mistral announced that it had made significant progress toward the FAA certification of its new 300 horsepower, G-300 engine, but on 9 June, due to lack of financial support from investors, Mistral had to cease the development and certification of its G-300 engine. [7] [2]

Heli Air Design, a helicopter manufacturer from France, used the Mistral G200 rotary engine for its two seat ultralight helicopter Helineo, which was launched in 2012. [8] [9]

In 2014, Mistral Engines was acquired by Chinese company Elecpro for €2,5 million. In 2015 Elecpro changed its name to DEA General Aviation. The acquisition was originally intended to exclude drone dual-use technology, meaning military and civilian use, but was eventually included. According to the Dutch OSINT platform Datenna, DEA General Aviation has no government related shareholders. [1]

Mistral Engines went into bankruptcy, but it was revoked in 2019 by the President of the Court of the District of La Côte and the company was reinstated. [10] The company once again filed for bankruptcy and was liquidated in 2022 and terminated in 2024. [5] [11]

Product line

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Strategic Chinese acquisition in European dual-use aviation technology: the case of Mistral Engines". Datenna. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  2. 1 2 3 Sarsfield, Kate. "Mistral suspends G-300 engine development". Flight Global. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  3. ↑ "The acquisition of MESA and SkyTrac". Datenna. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  4. ↑ "Mistral Moves Toward Certification Of 300HP Multi-Fuel Rotary Engine | Aero-News Network". www.aero-news.net. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  5. 1 2 "MISTRAL ENGINES SA, GLAND, SWITZERLAND". Northdata. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  6. ↑ "MISTRAL Engines Strengthens its Management Team with Ana Fontes as its New Corporate Marketing and Americas Sales Director". Aviation Pros. 2010-04-02. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  7. ↑ "Mistral Engines suspends development". www.aopa.org. 2010-09-06. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  8. ↑ "Heli Air Design choses Mistral G200 rotary engine for Helineo". HeliHub.com. 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  9. ↑ Roy, Gil (2012-09-04). "Heli Air Design choisit le moteur rotatif Mistral pour l'Helineo". Aerobuzz (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  10. ↑ "Notifications Mistral Engines SA en liquidation - Gland". Moneyhouse. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  11. ↑ "Mistral Engines SA en liquidation". Moneyhouse. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
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