Issoire Silène

The Issoire Silène was a sailplane produced in France in the 1970s and early 1980s, intended primarily as a trainer. It was a conventional design of fibreglass construction in versions with fixed or retractable monowheel undercarriage. The aircraft featured side-by-side seating for two, with the seats slightly staggered in order to minimise fuselage width. French certification was obtained on 3 February 1978, and production began shortly thereafter at the rate of two aircraft per month.

The original CE 75 design was refined as the E 78, which featured a redesigned and roomier cockpit, and was again available in fixed and retractable undercarriage versions. A further development, the I 79, was in development in 1979, and featured tanks for water ballast as well as hydraulically operated flaps, undercarriage, and airbrakes.