Unfortunately the Melot engine was not able to develop the required thrust and the 1939 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe was cancelled due to the start of World War II.

[2] Payen redesigned the aircraft around a Regnier 180 hp 6B-01 six-cylinder, air-cooled inverted in-line engine, which was designated PA 22/2, and was completed in 1939.

During its testing in the wind tunnel at Chalais-Meudon (Paris), the Germans invaded France and confiscated it.

A flight test program was started, but before it was completed Payen convinced the German authorities that modifications were necessary and had the prototype returned to his factory at Juvisy.

[2] Improvements including a variable-pitch propeller and supplementary fuel tanks were started but in 1943 an Allied air raid on the Juvisy railway yard also struck the factory, destroying the PA 22.