The aircraft has a welded steel tube
fuselage and
rudder with a wooden and
fabric covered wing,
tailplane and
elevator. It weighs 165 kg without an engine. Early aircraft were equipped with a 40 hp Stamo
Volkswagen air-cooled engine with later types using either 40 hp Pollman-Hepu or 45 hp Stark Stamo engines. More recently the
Jabiru 2200 engine has been used. Production was between 1959 and 1961 with
Avions Fairey delivering 59 complete aircraft and 78 kits.
Avions Fairey stopped production to make capacity available for
F-104G Starfighter assembly for the
Belgian Air Force. During 1962 the rights and a large assortment of uncompleted parts were sold to
Cobelavia SA -Compagnie Belge d'Aviation, and they assembled 18 Nippers. The type was renamed as the Cobelavia D-158 Nipper. In June 1966 the license was sold to Nipper Aircraft Ltd at
Castle Donington and new Mk.III aircraft were built for them by
Slingsby Sailplanes at
Kirkbymoorside. Production was ended by the fire at Slingsby's in late 1968 and the subsequent bankruptcy. Several partly constructed Nippers were transferred to Castle Donington. ==Operational history==