Colomban MC-15 Cri-Cri

The Colomban Cri-Cri ("Cricket" in French) is the world's smallest twin-engined crewed aircraft, designed by French aeronautical engineer Michel Colomban and first flown on 19 July 1973. Colomban, a senior engineer at Dassault, designed the Cri-Cri as a personal project with explicit goals: keep total build cost under approximately $1,000 (1970s dollars, including engines), enable construction in roughly 1,500 hours with basic tools, and make the airframe small enough to store in a garage as tiny as 6 m by 3 m. The result is an all-metal single-seat twin weighing less than most motorcycles, with a wingspan of just 16 feet 1 inch and an empty weight around 172 lb.

The Cri-Cri is a genuine twin-engine aircraft — not a novelty — and it is fully aerobatic, capable of loops, rolls, and inverted flight. The two tiny engines are mounted on pylons directly in front of the cockpit, extremely close to the centerline. This tight spacing means engine-out asymmetric thrust is minimal, allowing the Cri-Cri to be flown safely by pilots without a formal multi-engine rating (where regulations permit). Several hundred sets of plans have been sold by Colomban directly, and approximately 400 Cri-Cris are believed to have been built worldwide since 1973. The type remains an icon of minimalist aircraft design and appears regularly at airshows, including EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. It is related in spirit to other minimalist homebuilts like the sonex-onex and efficiency-focused designs like the rutan-varieze, though the Cri-Cri's dual-engine configuration is unique.

The MC-15 with JPX PUL 212 engines is by far the most common and is the reference variant for this page. Airframe differences between variants are minimal — most changes are engine-driven.

Book cruise for the MC-15 is around 100–110 KTAS at sea level, with a Vne of 159 KIAS. Real-world cruise on JPX engines is closer to 95 KTAS when builders want to preserve engine life, since the two-strokes are running near redline continuously to make their rated 15 hp. Stall speed is remarkably low (~39 KIAS at max gross) due to the minuscule wing loading — but the tiny wing also means the Cri-Cri is extremely sensitive to turbulence and is essentially a calm-morning airplane.

Climb rate is a respectable 591 fpm on both engines, but single-engine climb is effectively zero or negative at any meaningful density altitude — the Cri-Cri is a twin in name, not in engine-out performance. Density altitude crushes the two-strokes quickly; above 5,000 ft DA, takeoff performance degrades noticeably. The airplane is reportedly delightful in smooth air and very responsive, with a published roll rate of approximately 360 degrees per second — faster than most purpose-built aerobatic airplanes.

With only one seat and ~200 lb useful load, payload-range calculations for the Cri-Cri are simple:

• Full fuel (6.1 gal, ~37 lb) + 150 lb pilot: 187 lb useful used, 16 lb of margin. Range at book cruise is ~250 nm, practical range with 30-minute reserve is ~150–180 nm.
• Full fuel + 180 lb pilot: Still legal at 217 lb useful, but begins to eat into the aerobatic gross weight limit. Aerobatic maneuvering with a heavier pilot and full fuel is not recommended.
• Full fuel + 200 lb pilot: At or over max gross. The Cri-Cri is a small-pilot airplane; anyone over 180 lb should expect to fly with reduced fuel.
• Minimum fuel (1 gal reserve) + 180 lb pilot: Allows a stockier pilot but gives only ~40 nm of range — suitable for airshow demos and local aerobatic flights only.

In practice, most Cri-Cri missions are 30–60 minute local flights, and payload-range rarely constrains the owner — the airplane's comfort, noise, and weather sensitivity become limits long before fuel does.

• Flight training (1/10): Single-seat. Cannot be used for dual instruction.
• Backcountry (1/10): Low prop clearance, tiny wheels, no useful load for camping gear, and fragile two-stroke engines. Pavement only.
• Business travel (1/10): Single seat, 250 nm range, no IFR capability, no baggage. Unusable for transportation.
• Aerobatics (6/10): Fully aerobatic, stressed to approximately +9/-4.5 G in original design (builders vary). Excellent roll rate. Held back from a higher score by limited vertical energy from 30 total HP and by the fragility of two-stroke engines under repeated aerobatic loads.
• Cross-country (2/10): 250 nm range is theoretical; practical legs are closer to 150 nm with reserves. No radio panel room, no IFR, and the pilot is exposed to noise and fatigue.
• Cargo hauling (1/10): Useful load of ~200 lb is the pilot plus fuel. There is no baggage area.
• Local fun flying (9/10): This is the Cri-Cri's home mission. Cheap to fuel, stores in a garage, turns heads at every fly-in, and delivers an experience unlike any other GA airplane. The only reason it is not a 10 is weather sensitivity and short endurance.
• Surveying (1/10): No payload for cameras, no endurance, no autopilot mounting, no stability for sensor work.

The Cri-Cri panel is a matter of what a builder can fit into roughly 6 inches of horizontal space. Typical configurations:

• Basic sport ($500–$1,500): Analog ASI, altimeter, VSI, slip ball, dual EGT/CHT for the two-strokes, hourmeter. No radio.
• Mid-tier ($2,000–$5,000): Add a handheld VHF with headset adapter, a small GPS (Garmin aera 660 or similar), a digital engine monitor, and a basic transponder (uAvionix tailBeaconX or similar) for airspace access.
• Modern experimental ($6,000–$12,000): Small EFIS like Dynon D3 or Garmin G5, ADS-B out via tailBeacon, panel-mount comm. Weight and panel real estate are the hard limits — most builders stop at a single 3-inch EFIS. See avionics-pricing for experimental avionics details.

IFR certification is not realistic on this airframe due to pitot-static stability, panel size, and the lack of any redundancy appropriate for IMC.

As an experimental amateur-built, the Cri-Cri does not use STCs. Common builder modifications include:

• Electric conversion: EADS demonstrated an electric Cri-Cri in 2010; a handful of hobbyist electric conversions exist. Endurance drops to ~30 minutes.
• Jet conversion (MC-15J): Twin small turbojets (e.g. AMT Olympus). Dramatic performance increase but very short endurance and high fuel burn (~60 lph total).
• Rotax 185/285 swaps: Some builders have adapted small Rotax two-strokes where JPX PUL 212 engines became unavailable.
• Larger fuel tank: Stretching fuel from the stock 23 L (~6.1 gal) to ~30 L for longer flights.
• Ballistic parachute: Small BRS units have been installed by a few builders given the fragile twin's lack of engine-out climb capability.

• Parts availability: poor. JPX PUL 212 engines are out of production; builders scavenge, fabricate, or swap engine types. Airframe parts are all owner-fabricated from plans.
• Mechanic familiarity: rare. Condition inspections must be signed by an A&P, but very few A&Ps have seen a Cri-Cri. Owners typically handle all maintenance themselves and find an A&P willing to sign.
• Annual cost: $1,500–$3,500 typical, dominated by two-stroke engine care (plugs, gaskets, top-end inspections) and eventual engine replacement funds.
• Expensive items: Engine replacement (~$3,000–$6,000 for a used pair), propeller replacement ($400–$800 each), canopy fabrication ($500–$1,500 if original is damaged).

The Cri-Cri builder community is small but active, centered around the CriCri@groups.io mailing list and Michel Colomban himself (who still sells plans). See maintenance-ecosystem for general experimental support context — the Cri-Cri sits at the extreme orphan end of that spectrum.

Cri-Cri valuation is highly idiosyncratic — the market is small (perhaps 1–3 sales worldwide per year) and each airplane is unique. Typical tiers:

• Project / unfinished kit: $3,000–$8,000. Plans-built projects with airframe partially complete.
• Flyable older build with tired JPX engines: $10,000–$18,000. Most of the flying fleet sits here.
• Fresh build or recently re-engined: $20,000–$30,000. Zero-time engines and modern small EFIS.
• Jet Cri-Cri (MC-15J): $50,000+. Rare, not really comparable.

Builder quality matters enormously. A well-documented build by a known Cri-Cri community member commands a significant premium. Unknown builder history is a major discount. Engine condition is the dominant variable — a fresh pair of engines can be worth more than the rest of the airframe. See valuation-methodology for general experimental valuation approach; the Cri-Cri is an outlier and much of that methodology does not apply.

Experimental amateur-built aircraft are not subject to ADs, but the Cri-Cri fleet has well-known recurring issues:

• JPX PUL 212 engine availability: JPX ceased producing the PUL 212 engines years ago. Parts, especially crankshafts and ignition components, are increasingly difficult to source. This is the single largest issue facing the fleet.
• Two-stroke reliability: 15 hp two-strokes are running near peak output continuously. TBO is nominal 300 hours but many builders replace or rebuild at 150–200 hours. Seizure from lean mixture is a documented failure mode.
• Fuel system icing: The tiny carburetors and exposed induction system are prone to carb ice even in mild conditions.
• Control surface flutter: A few early builders reported flutter issues on home-fabricated ailerons; Colomban's plans specify balance weights that must not be omitted.
• Landing gear cracks: The steel leg gear is stressed and has cracked on rough-field landings.
• Cockpit heat/exhaust ingress: Close engine placement means exhaust fumes and heat can enter the cockpit if firewall sealing is poor.

The Cri-Cri is a difficult insurance risk. Many US underwriters will not quote it at all, citing:

• Single-engine performance equivalent to an ultralight
• Unfamiliar, out-of-production engines
• Aerobatic use
• Limited recorded accident history
• No standard value — each airplane must be individually appraised

Builders who do obtain coverage typically get liability-only (around $800–$1,500/year for $1M liability) and self-insure the hull. Hull insurance, when available, runs $1,200–$2,000/year on a $20,000 agreed value. A conventional aerobatic endorsement and at least a few hours of dual in a similarly low-inertia airplane (e.g. an ultralight or light aerobatic trainer) is typically required by the underwriter. See insurance-underwriting for experimental category details.