PAYEN PA.22

The Payen PA-22 was a French experimental aircraft from the interwar period and World War II. The drive was provided by a single Regnier R.6 engine with a capacity of 180 HP. The prototype flight took place in October 1942 - the machines never entered mass production. It also did not have permanent on-board armament. The Payen PA-22 was designed by Roland Payen to test unconventional aerodynamics in flight. The PA-22 had traditional, short wings at the front of the fuselage, but from the middle of the fuselage it already had delta wings, which at that time were very rarely used. The first prototype was completed in 1939, but due to the outbreak of World War II and the subsequent defeat of France in the 1940 campaign, work on the aircraft was interrupted. However, the German authorities became interested in the design of Roland Payen and - after testing it in a wind tunnel - allowed the prototype to fly. In 1943, the only copy of this atypical plane was destroyed as a result of an Allied air raid.