History
MISTRAL Engines is a Swiss company with headquarters in Geneva (Switzerland) and a US subsidiary in DeLand, Florida.
It was founded in April 2001 by a group of pilots and aircraft owners to offer to the general aviation market a long-awaited and much needed new powerplant.
MISTRAL Engines selected the rotary engine technology as the base for the new engine for its key advantages in reliability, longevity, compactness, power-to-weight ratio and multi-fuel capability, among others. Combined with cutting-edge 21st century technology, years of hands-on flying experience and in-depth knowledge of the aviation industry: the MISTRAL Engine was born.
Goals and vision
MISTRAL Engines SA aims to rejuvenate light aviation, and to become an industry leader and reference for innovation and vision by:
- providing unmatched innovation and quality in engineering, design, manufacturing and services
- being at the forefront of technological innovations geared towards reducing the impact of general aviation on the environment
- setting leading standards in light aviation
- being a people-oriented, modern and visionary employer in its company culture and working environment
Meeting the needs of 21st Century general aviation
Since its creation in 2001, MISTRAL Engines has developed a line of multi-fuel, liquid-cooled, electronically controlled rotary engines that meet the needs of 21st century general aviation.
MISTRAL’s lead engine, the normally aspirated three-rotor G-300, is currently undergoing FAA type certification, alongside MISTRAL’s proprietary Digital Engine Management (DEM) system, under FAA project number TC9823 AT-E.
MISTRAL’s G-300
currently in certification
PartnershipS
MISTRAL Engines has collaborated with several renowned academic and industrial partners: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland and Hartzell Propeller Inc. to name but a few.
Milestones
| 2000 | The MISTRAL engine prototype is presented at Oshkosh’s EAA 2000. The response is overwhelmingly positive. |
| 2001 | MISTRAL Engines SA (originally Mécanair Rotary Engines SA) is created in the Canton de Fribourg (Switzerland). |
| 2003 |
MISTRAL’s capital is opened to new investors. MISTRAL moves its headquarters and design office to Geneva, in a large multi-user industrial building. It installs its own engine-test lab with suitable workshop space for production assembly, gaining total independence in its development and testing schedule. |
| 2004 |
The first MISTRAL engine flies on 04 April. MISTRAL’s products are officially introduced at Oshkosh’s Air Venture 2004. MISTRAL Engines USA, Inc. is created in Daytona Beach, Florida (USA). |
| 2005 |
The first 14 orders are booked. Production begins in July. MISTRAL Engines inaugurates its new assembly facility in Geneva. |
| 2006 | The first two-rotor engine is delivered to a client in California in April. |
| 2007 |
Over USD 8 million in new financing are raised from new private investors. A contract is concluded with a major heavy/medium-lift helicopter manufacturer for the motorization of its new 3-place light helicopter. The first three-rotor engine is delivered to a client in Denmark in December. |
