The French Member of Parliament and pilot André Moynet
designed the Jupiter. The first prototype was built in five months by
S.A. Engines Matra and shown in the static display of the Paris Air
Show in May 1963. Nevertheless it took until December 17, 1963 before
the first flight of the Moynet M 360-4 Jupiter (F-WLKE) took place
from Villacoublay.
The Jupiter was, after the Cessna 336 Skymaster, the second light
business aircraft to be fitted with two centrally placed engines, the
center-line-thrust (CLT) concept. CLT gives the advantages of higher
safety, better performance on one engine compared to twin-engined
models with conventional engine-positions, simpler construction and
thus less costly to produce.
The second prototype, designed under the designation Moynet 700, was
also built by Matra as the six/seven-seat Moynet M 360-6 Jupiter.
Registered as F-WLKY it flew for the first time on May 23, 1963 and
had: a slightly wider and 2 ft 11 in (0.89 m) longer fuselage; two
290 hp Lycoming IO-450 engines; 705 lb (320 kg) higher max. t/o
weight; and a 230 mls (370 km) longer range.
A proposed model was the M 360-P, a pressurized version with two 340
hp Lycoming engines. Also projected was the eight-seat Moynet 2000
with a 725 hp Turboméca Aztazou turbo-prop in the nose and a
3,000 lb (1,360 kg) Pratt & Whitney JT12A-6 turbojet in the rear
of the much longer fuselage fitted with a single vertical tail.
At the first flight of the M 360-6 it was announced that the series
production would be undertaken by Sud-Aviation. This company also
projected a pressurized but even larger model known as the
Présidence with 400 hp TIGO-541 engines and max. T/O weight of
6,173 lb (2,800 kg).
Although the M 360-4 and M 360-6 were shown on a large scale and with
success in the USA as well in Europe, these, and all
projected versions were abandoned.