Fouga CM-170 Magister, FM-28, was one of 80 built by Valmet for the Finnish Air Force in the early 1960s. Sold to Exotic Aircraft Inc in 1986, she was registered in the US as N18FM. Her stay in the US was short as she was air-freighted to Shannon on board an L100 Hercules on November 16th 1988. Registered to Gerry Connolly on November 21st 1988 as EI-BXO, she became the first, and so far only, ex-military jet trainer to grace the Irish register. Making her first public appearance as BXO two days later, she flew until 1991 when she was placed in open storage on the East Ramp at Shannon.
On April 15th 1996 BXO was registered to Christy Keane of Saggart, County Dublin. She spent many years stored in the car park of Toughers Oil in Newbridge, County Kildare before moving to Northern Ireland. During 2014 she was moved to the Irish Aer Corps museum hangar at Baldonnel.
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