Dassault Mercure

The Dassault Mercure is a twin-engined narrow-body jet-powered airliner developed and manufactured by French aircraft firm Dassault Aviation. According to Dassault, it was the first large-scale European cooperative civil aeronautics programme.

The program cost was $75 million and the unit cost $6 million in 1971,

According to aerospace publication Flight International, the design of the new airliner had been shaped by Dassault's "philosophy of aiming the aircraft at a corner of the market which it believes existing types do not adequately serve".

Flight testing

thumb|View of one the [[Pratt & Whitney JT8D nacelle.]]

On 28 May 1971, the maiden flight of the first prototype, powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney JT8D-11 turbofan engines, capable of generating up to of thrust, took place at Mérignac. On 7 September 1972, the second prototype, which was powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney JT8D-15 engines, which would be used on all subsequent Mercures built, flew for the first time. On 19 July 1973, the first production aircraft conducted its maiden flight. On 12 February 1974, the Mercure received its Type certificate and, on 30 September 1974, was certified for Category IIIA approach all-weather automatic landing (minimum visibility = 500 ft, minimum ceiling = 50 ft). The Mercure 100 was also the first commercial airliner to be operated by a 100% female crew on one of its flights.

Dassault tried to attract the interest of major airlines and several regional airlines, touting the Mercure 100 as a replacement for the Douglas DC-9. A few airlines showed some initial interest but only Air Inter, a domestic French airline, placed an order.

To answer an official request, Dassault proposed a variant with the new CFM International CFM56 and a supercritical wing. In 1975, contacts were made with Douglas Aircraft Company and Lockheed Corporation to build and sell it in the US, and with SNIAS to build it in France. However, Marcel Dassault was concerned that the CFM56 was not yet ordered. The Mercure 200-1 would be lengthened by to accommodate 160 passengers in two classes to 184, while the 200-2 would keep the Mercure 100 fuselage length with the new wing to seat 124 in two classes to 150.

Operators

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Air Inter

Surviving aircraft

thumb|A Mercure display at the [[Musée de l’air et de l’espace at Paris–Le Bourget Airport.]]

F-BTTB, c/n 2 is on display at the Technik Museum Speyer in Germany. The cabin of the aircraft, although closed to the public, can be seen through a grille. It is presented in the same condition as when it left service (on its last commercial flight), complete with French magazines on the passenger seats.
F-BTTD, c/n 4 is on display at the Musée de l’air et de l’espace at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in France.
F-BTTE, c/n 5 is preserved as a ground instructional airframe at Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport. for the Ecole Supérieure des Métiers de l'Aéronautique
F-BTTF, c/n 6 is stored at Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport in France.
F-BTTH, c/n 8 is preserved at Marseille Provence Airport.
F-BTTI, c/n 9 is preserved as an instructional airframe at Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport in France.
F-BTTJ, c/n 10 was preserved at the Musée Delta in Athis-Mons, near Paris-Orly Airport. It was cut up during 2018, with the forward fuselage now at Piet Smedts (PSAero) in Baarlo, the Netherlands, and a major portion of the upper fuselage in use as part of the scenery at a paintball center near Uden, the Netherlands.

Specifications

upright=2|thumb|Three-view diagram of the Mercure.