There’s niche, and then there’s niche. A very small — quite charming — and low-powered jet, intended as a delta-winged trainer. Is it any surprise that the Payen Pa 49 remained a one-off?

Roland Payen must have been frustrated. He’d built France’s first jet powered aeroplane to have a delta wing, and this designer/ aeronautical engineer looked set to write his name in the French aviation annals by beating the big manufacturers into the air with such a machine. Then he was just pipped to the post, while the raison d'être for his creation slipped away.