CAB Minicab


The CAB GY-20 Minicab is a two-seat light aircraft built in France in the years immediately following World War II.

Design and development

It is a conventional, low-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed tailwheel undercarriage. Its design was a scaled-down version of the aircraft that Yves Gardan had designed for SIPA, the SIPA S.90. The pilot and passenger sit side by side and access to the cockpit is via a one-piece perspex canopy that hinges forwards. Gardan's intention was to produce a low-cost, easy-to-fly, easy-to-maintain aircraft with the possibility of homebuilding.

Production

The prototype Minicab first flew at Pau-Idron on 1 February 1949 with Max Fischl at the controls. CAB manufactured a total of 22 Minicabs. This was followed by a larger number completed by amateur builders in France and other countries around the world. Several Minicabs currently active in the United Kingdom have been rebuilt to the JB.01 standard developed by M. Jean Barritault. Falconar sold plans for a tricycle gear homebuilt model named the Minihawk.

Operational history

was obtained in mid-April 1949. By the end of 1950, a Minicab had won the Coupe de Vitesse de Deauville, and the Grand Prix Aérien de Vichy. The following year, a Minicab broke the world air distance record for its class and in 1952 it attained the world airspeed record for its class over a 2,000 km circuit, with an average speed of.

Variants

;GY-20 Minicab:production model.
;GY-201 Minicab:refined version with strengthened undercarriage, split flaps, and castering tailwheel.
;Falconar Hawk:Minicabs built to plans supplied by Falconar
;Falconar MiniHawk:plans-built design from Falconar with tricycle undrcarriage.
;Barritault JB.01:Minicabs rebuilt to the designs of Jean Barritault.

Specifications (GY-20)