Our Customers, their aircraft…
Freedom at any cost!

A pilot who travels with a flexwing? Of course, it was surprising: ‘You should take a multi-axis qualification. It’s faster and more comfortable,’ people explained to him. Christophe let himself be convinced, and took the plunge in 2015. Initially interested in an Evektor Eurostar, he changed his mind when faced with the very high prices of these microlights. When he came across an advert for a second-hand MCR ULC being sold for €40,000, he rushed to see the owner of the machine, who was in Milan, Italy. And, from the very first flight in the ULC, he fell under the spell of this surprising little machine. ‘I discovered a microlight that was really easy, precise, pleasant to fly, fast and fuel-efficient; in short, a very sound machine,’ he said. ‘In fact, I couldn’t imagine having anything other than this ULC’.

Now registered as F-JAOT, this machine powered by a Rotax 912S engine driving a two-blade Idrovario variable pitch propeller, has logged 1,000 hours. In terms of avionics, it is just a little more advanced than his flexwing microlight: no autopilot, no electronics. “I love needles! I don’t want anything else,” Christophe confesses. For navigation, he does have an old mobile Garmin GPS, which can be connected to the control panel. And, for safety, the ULC is equipped with an airframe parachute. As for the livery, it is all white with a blue border. Quite simply.

Yes, simplicity is one of the values of this pilot, who will travel a lot with this ultralight. He will fly to the whole of France, with a slight preference for the route south of Marseille, which is flown at 500 ft with a breathtaking view of the calanques. He will also fly to Switzerland, Spain and England.

Corsica is also one of his favourite destinations. He often goes there with his son. More specifically to Corte, where the field has a rather original unofficial approach procedure: ‘Before each landing, you have to make a low pass so that the cows move out of the runway’, he explains with a laugh.

But in 2018, Christophe Guyon’s love of air travelling very nearly came to an abrupt end when, following an engine failure (caused by poor-quality fuel), he was forced to make an emergency landing in a cornfield. With a broken propeller and damaged landing gear and fuel tank, the pilot, although unharmed, was very shocked, even traumatised, by the accident.

Deciding to have the machine repaired without necessarily wanting to fly again, Christophe contacted SE Aviation Aircraft for the first time. And, by his own admission, our teams reassured him, helped him regain confidence, in short, motivated him again so that he could quickly fly his ULC again.

A new E-PROPS DURANDAL has been installed, the engine has been overhauled at Rotax, the landing gear and the tank have been repaired, and the horizontal stabiliser has been replaced with a carbon one. Our new flap control system will also be part of the modifications… a gift his wife gave him for Valentine’s Day! Six months later, the MCR ULC Evolution and its pilot will take to the skies again.

Since then, this traveller and filmmaker of the sky has, of course, regained all his confidence at the controls of his aircraft, which now has a total of 2,000 flight hours. As for the trauma of the accident, it has definitely flown away.

We wish you bon voyage, Christophe…
And, please, continue to make us dream with your movies!

When Christophe talks about SE Aviation Aircraft …

fter my accident, I was really in shock, but the people at SE Aviation Aircraft provided incredible psychological support. I never felt judged. I never felt the slightest bit of disdain. The most important thing for them was that I fly again very quickly, and Éric Fumey did everything he could to make that happen. There’s no doubt that, without him, or without Lydie’s kindness, I would never have flown again. I remember something that Eric said to me after he had repaired my ULC and made it airworthy again. He said, ‘We fixed the plane, but more importantly, we fixed the pilot!’ I will never forget that. And from now on, every time there is important maintenance to be done, I will entrust my ULC to SE Aviation.

WHAT IS NEW AT SE AVIATION AIRCRAFT?

Jonathan Hayot has crossed the Atlantic in a MCR-4S!

We told you about it last month and now it’s happened: Jonathan Hayot has successfully crossed the Atlantic in his MCR-4S Evolution. An amazing achievement and a first!

The journey was completed in 5 steps. After taking off from Perpignan on 22 February, Jonathan, assisted by co-pilot David Humbert, reached Agadir (Morocco) after a 7-hour flight, then, the following day, Dakar (Senegal) in 6 hours and 30 minutes.

After 12 days of ‘Senegalese holidays’, Jonathan set off again with a new co-pilot, Giulio Robin, in the direction of Cape Verde, which the two men reached in 3 hours.
Once they had refuelled, the ‘great crossing’ of the Atlantic to Cayenne (French Guiana) took 12 hours and 40 minutes. Finally, the last leg, from Cayenne to Fort-de-France (Martinique), lasted 6 hours. Congratulations to Jonathan Hayot and his two copilots for this trip of more than 5,000 NM, which ended on 9 March 2025!

It should be noted that, for safety reasons, the pilots were equipped with life jackets and a life raft, individual emergency beacons and a satellite phone.
But the most significant safety feature was undoubtedly the range of this MCR-4S Evolution, unprecedented until now, since with the addition of flexible tanks in the rear seats, Jonathan Hayot’s plane carried 440 liters of fuel.

Furthermore, this quantity allows us to validate our calculations in the context of our DRIADE programme. Because in addition to showing that an MCR-4S can fly with more than 400 liters of fuel, the wing of Jonathan Hayot’s plane, which is the first of a brand new generation, is the one that will equip our future reconnaissance and firefighting drone.