G-ATBPCurrent
CofA current
- Type
- RF3
- Built
- 1965
- c/n
- 59
- Registered
- 11 Mar 1965
- Hours
- 3,192
- Base
- Inverness
Fournier and Aeromot Ximango motorgliders on the UK register, grouped by type.
Source and currency. The RF3 entries were updated on 12 September 2026 from CAA G-INFO, and the RF4D list is believed correct as of 20 September 2026. The RF5, RF6, RF7, RF10 and SFS31 registrations come from the club's UK list revised on 13 September 2026; their base, hours and status details are still to be added.
Every registration has a photo slot. Where one is empty, send us a photo — email it to James with the registration and where and when it was taken, and it will be added to the card.
The original production Fournier, built by Alpavia. Full history on the RF3 page.
RF3: 89 built · 9 imported to the UK · 9 still registered
CofA current
Permit, expired. Under restoration
Permit, current
Status unknown; possibly stored
Permit, expired. Under restoration
Permit, current
Permit, current
Permit, current
Permit, current
Deregistered - never imported, became F-BMTV
Recorded UK incidents on this type (CAA MOR system, 1976–2004): none fatal — mostly gear-up landings following a missed downwind check, plus an engine failure (Westhoughton, 1987) and a taxiing collision with a car in fog (Dishforth, 1982). Full detail on the RF3 page.
The most numerous Fournier built, and the type most commonly seen in the UK today. Full history on the RF4 page, and every RF4D by construction number in the production list.
RF4D: 156 built · 25 imported to the UK · 12 still registered · 13 de-registered · 5 written off
Permit expired 6/11
Permit expired 5/23
CofA, current
Was G-IVEL before returning to G-AVNY. Flew with the 'Skyhawks' team in the 80s
Permit expired 17/7/26; possibly under restoration
Flew with the 'Skyhawks' team in the 80s
Permit expired 8/23, under restoration
Wing from G-BIIF used in its restoration; the fuselage of G-BIIF is in store
Permit expired 29/9/17, under restoration
Adrian Pingstone · Wikimedia Commons · public domainPermit expired 26/7/26, stored for winter
Bob Grimstead's airshow machine 'RedHawk'. For sale
Permit, current. Under restoration
Permit, current
On the register as G-BIIF (c/n 4047) — first registered as G-BVET
Carried G-BVET for just over a year, then became G-BIIF. Previously F-BOXG with the Aéro-Club Les Ailes Florentinoises (St Florentin-Cheu, France). Flew with the 'Skyhawks' team in the 80s. Wing used in the restoration of G-AWEK; fuselage in store
CofA, ARC expired. Under restoration
Permit, current — Mira Slovak's Atlantic-crossing aircraft
Flown across the North Atlantic by Mira Slovak as N1700 — see the article, "Thirty-Six Horsepower Over the Atlantic." Photographs of its arrival and rebuild are on the RF4 page.
Deregistered 5/8/04 to Spain
Believed to have been sold to Germany for restoration. Flew with the 'Skyhawks' team in the 80s
Deregistered 24/6/04 to Sweden
Now SE-XST in Sweden
Deregistered 4/11/20 to France
Flies with the 'Alternative Duo' display pair as No.1. Flew with the 'Skyhawks' team in the 80s
Deregistered 2/2/81, crashed on take off at Shoreham 11/1/81
Rudder used in the 2026 restoration of RF7 G-EHAP
Deregistered 17/12/18 to Sweden
Used by Mick Reeves as the basis of his 1/3-scale World Championship-winning model in the 70s, and of the kits that followed
Deregistered 19/12/17 to Sweden
Deregistered, mid air with RF5 G-AYBS off 'Needles' during race 24/6/72 (pilot lived)
Famously hit the ground at the bottom of a loop at an airshow, with pilot Neil Jensen standing up in the cockpit and bowing
Deregistered 11/7/73, crashed into sea off Newtownhill (Scotland) 14/10/72
Deregistered 16/4/04 to Japan
Deregistered, crashed on take off at Little Farringdon, Glos on 11/6/76
Deregistered, crashed from flight at Cleeve Hill, Glos 25/7/82
Deregistered 14/4/89 to Germany
Deregistered 28/10/10. Never flew in UK
Wing used in the repair of G-AVWY; fuselage needing repair is in store
Deregistered 27 Mar 2013 to Sweden
G-AVWY, formerly one of the RF4Ds flown by the "Skyhawks" aerobatic display team, suffered a landing accident in 2003 (premature gear retraction, per the AAIB) but was rebuilt. G-AVNX was sold to Sweden in 2004 and delivered by air; it now flies there as SE-XST. The delivery pilot's own account is on the Articles page.
Recorded UK incidents on this type (AAIB and CAA MOR records): three fatal accidents — G-AXJS, ditched off Skateraw, Kincardine, 14 October 1972; G-AVWZ, crashed on take-off at Shoreham, 11 January 1981; and G-AZUU, which crashed at Cleeve Hill, Gloucestershire, on 25 July 1982 after an hour of aerobatics practice. G-AWGN has had two separate events (1997; and an engine failure at a display, Stow Maries, July 2023); G-AVKD, propeller damage on landing, Lasham, August 2012. Gear-up and partially-collapsed landings recur repeatedly in the type's occurrence record — usually a missed downwind check rather than a fault. Full reports are linked from the Resources page.
Folding-wing tandem two-seater, popular in UK syndicates. Full history on the RF5 page.
RF5: 127 built · 16 imported to the UK · 9 still registered · 7 de-registered · 4 written off
RF5b “Sperber”: 99 built · 7 imported to the UK · 5 still registered · 2 de-registered · 1 written off
Registrations from the club’s UK list revised on 13 September 2026; base, hours and other details are still to be added.
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
De-registered (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
Written off 1990, Rattlesden
De-registered (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
De-registered (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
Recorded UK incidents on this type (AAIB and CAA MOR records): the type's most serious accident was a fatal right-wing folding-joint failure on takeoff at North Weald, 26 September 1997 — the outer wing hadn't been fully locked despite appearing set; a related non-fatal wing-fold incident at Camphill in 1994 is on the same file. G-AZPF, stalled while landing at Manchester Barton, October 2016; G-AZRK, accident at Berrow Airfield, June 2010, alongside G-AYAI's 1990 fatal loss noted above. Full reports are linked from the Resources page.
Full history on the RF6 page.
RF6b: 45 built · 4 imported to the UK · 1 still registered · 3 de-registered · 1 written off
RF6c “RS180 Sportsman”: 1 imported to the UK · 1 still registered
Registrations from the club’s UK list revised on 13 September 2026; base, hours and other details are still to be added.
CofA expired; ARC expired 14 May 2026
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
De-registered 29 Feb 2024
Landed on the A40 near Staverton on 10 Aug 2023 after fuel starvation, then damaged further when dropped off the recovery truck; broken for parts and wood. Some parts used in G-RFGB.
Soon to be de-registered, to Australia
The subject of an ongoing restoration and Bob Grimstead’s Pilot magazine saga — but the aircraft is now due to leave the UK register for Australia. See the restoration project for the fuller story.
De-registered 8 Dec 2000
Long lost, then reappeared at auction in King's Lynn on 20 Jun 2026; the scrap is becoming a children's toy at a museum near Conningsby. Some parts used in G-RFGB.
De-registered by the CAA 10 Apr 2025 — possibly in error
The original 1973 RF6B prototype — its wing and fuselage form the basis of an LAA project, alongside parts from G-GANJ and G-BKIF. See the G-BLWH restoration project for how F-BPXV was recovered from a French club.
G-BLWH ("Whisky Hotel") is the subject of an ongoing rebuild and of Bob Grimstead's Pilot magazine saga — but it is now due to be de-registered to Australia. G-RFGB is the original 1973 RF6B prototype, F-BPXV, recovered from a French club — its wing and fuselage now form the basis of an LAA project, with parts from the wrecks of G-BKIF (fuel starvation and a landing on the A40, Aug 2023) and G-GANJ (long lost, reappeared at a King's Lynn auction in June 2026).
Never certified — see the RF7 page for why.
RF7: 1 built · 1 imported to the UK · 1 still registered
Permit, awaiting import paperwork on completion of restoration
The RF7 prototype and only one built as a production aircraft rather than from a kit; never certified — see the RF7 page for why. Also carried the German registrations D-EHAP and, later, D-EJRF.
Nothing has turned up for these types on the UK register in the sources checked so far — unsurprising given how few of each were ever built. See the Aircraft section for each type's individual history.
A UK-based example of any of these would be a genuinely rare find worth recording properly.
Report an aircraftFull history on the RF10 page.
Ximango / Super Ximango: number built unknown · 9 imported to the UK · 6 still registered
Registrations from the club’s UK list revised on 13 September 2026; base, hours and other details are still to be added.
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
De-registered (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
De-registered (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
De-registered (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
G-RFIO was the first Super Ximango to reach the UK, and was flight-tested on arrival by the pioneering glider instructor Derek Piggott. G-BWNY had a gear-up landing in June 2008, per the AAIB.
Not a Fournier design, but built by the same Sportavia-Pützer works and part of the same family of UK motorgliders. There is no type page for it yet.
SFS31: 12 built · 2 imported to the UK · 1 still registered · 1 de-registered · 1 written off
Registrations from the club’s UK list revised on 13 September 2026; base, hours and other details are still to be added.
On the register (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
De-registered (list revised 13 Sep 2026)
Written off
Build totals from Club Fournier International, cross-checked against CAA G-INFO, Air Britain’s British Civil Aircraft Registrations 1919–1999 and the club’s own records — revised 13 September 2026. This covers the whole family, not just the types with UK entries above.
| Type | Built | Imported to UK | Still registered | De-registered | Written off | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RF1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | Owned by Rene and crashed at Dijon in 1961 (not Rene flying) |
| RF2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | No.1 believed to be airworthy in France; no.2 on display in Musee de l'Air, Paris |
| RF3 | 89 | 9 | 9 | — | — | 1 further aircraft registered in UK but not imported (G-ATFI) |
| RF4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | None imported |
| RF4D | 156 | 25 | 12 | 13 | 5 | Built in Germany (hence the D suffix) |
| RF5 | 127 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 4 | |
| RF5b "Sperber" | 99 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | Of the 2 deregistered, 1 written off, the other badly damaged and exported to Hungary |
| RF6 | 1 | — | — | — | — | Only prototype made |
| RF6b | 45 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 deregistered: 1 written off, 1 scrapped, 1 exported to Australia. Slingsby Aviation (Yorkshire) bought remaining components from Avion Fournier on its receivership and built 10 wooden aircraft as the T67A Firefly (bigger Lycoming O-235), later changing to composite construction with engines up to 260 hp and constant-speed prop. Slingsby aircraft are NOT counted as Fourniers by Fournier UK in listings, but Fireflys are welcome at Fournier UK events and trips |
| RF6c "RS180 Sportsman" | 10 | 1 | 1 | — | — | Printed as '10 built unknown' - confirm figure |
| RF7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 2 homebuilt look-alike aircraft were constructed and operate on the French register but differ significantly from the original aircraft |
| RF8 | 1 | — | — | — | — | Only prototype made |
| RF9 | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | None imported into UK |
| RF10 | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | None imported into UK |
| Ximango / Super Ximango | — | 9 | 6 | — | — | Number built unknown |
| RF47 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | None imported into UK |
| SFS31 "Milan" | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | The 1 deregistered was written off |
| RF55 & RF S5 "RF5 variants" | — | 0 | — | — | — | None imported into UK |
| AJ1 "Spanish-made RF5b" | 11 | 0 | — | — | — | None imported into UK |
Blank cells mean the figure isn’t recorded in the source, not that it’s zero. RF4 (built in France) is a distinct, separate type from the German-built RF4D that makes up the UK fleet above. Corrections welcome — email us.