1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. RMAF SME MD3-160 MRD: M Radzi Desa· GFDL 1.2
what is it?
The SME Aero Tiga, originally the Dätwyler MD-3 Swiss Trainer is a trainer aircraft developed in Switzerland through the 1960s and 70s, and which first flew in 1983.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 10 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 43 years ago, in 1983.
- Top speed is 2.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 10 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1983-08-12
- status
- still flying
- number built
- 100
- role
- trainer
- origin
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- makers
- Dätwyler, SME Aerospace
- engines
- 1× Lycoming O-320-D2A
- length
- 7.1 m
- wingspan
- 10 m
- height
- 2.9 m
- max take-off weight
- 920 kg
- top speed
- 254 km/h
- cruise speed
- 228 km/h
- range
- 919 km
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7391152, Wikipedia: SME Aero Tiga (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.