Marcel Jurca

Marcel Jurca (1921 – 19 October 2001) was a prolific designer of homebuilt aircraft in France. He is best known for his Tempête and Sirocco designs.

Early life Born in Romania, Jurca was impressed by the PZL fighters which often flew over him. He learned to fly in a Grunau 9 primary glider while studying engineering. Having joined the Royal Romanian Air Force in 1940, he flew the Henschel Hs 129 in 1943-1944. He moved to France in 1948. After a period as a volunteer flying instructor on the Stampe et Vertongen SV.4, he worked in industry, including 15 years as a commercial director, and retired in 1983. He was naturalised French in 1965.

Aircraft design On moving to France, he missed having an aircraft to fly, so he created his own. His first attempt at aircraft design was the MJ-1, which he considered unsatisfactory. He then built a Jodel D-112 with the help of the Aéro-Club de Courbevoie at Saint-Cyr-l'École. His designs have only ever been directly sold as plans for homebuilding. Most aircraft are designed for wood construction, but some builders have used other methods, for example steel tube and fabric, especially for fuselages. He considered all his designs to be fighters (except for the MJ-54), and all are taildraggers (with the exception of the MJ-6, MJ-66 and MJ-54).

In the mid 1960s, he considered that the American small P-51 Mustang replica homebuilt aircraft weren’t very realistic, and noticed that the Sirocco was about the size of a Mustang. He set about designing that and other scale warbirds, but he realised that he was having to make too many compromises, particularly in their overall appearance, and moved up to scale warbird replicas.

Then his American agent encouraged him to design full-size versions, particularly for the American market. Initially reluctant, he measured a real Messerschmitt Bf 109 at the Friedrichshafen airshow and realised that it could accommodate or Lycoming engines. He went on to measure the Supermarine Spitfire at the Musée de l’air in Paris, and developed the Spitfire plans, then the Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190, followed by the Mustang, the design he was still developing on his death. MJ-4 Shadow Single-seat retractable gear version of the MJ-2 with a swept fin. MJ-7 Gnatsum scale Mustang. The prototype was built by Falconar Avia in Edmonton, Canada with a Ranger engine. First flight 31 July 1969. MJ-7S Solo MJ-7 without the underbelly air scoop, designed as a single-seat trainer. MJ-8 One-Nine-0h scale Focke-Wulf Fw 190. First flight in the USA in 1975. MJ-51 Sperocco Name derived from Special Sirocco . A high performance aerobatic 2-seat tandem low wing r/g monoplane with a modified fuselage from the MJ-5 and wings of the MJ-7. MJ-100 Spitfire 1/1 scale plans published in 1988. Prototype first flown in 1994. Wooden or metal tube fuselage and wooden wings. Has been built with engines up to .