DASSAULT MERCURE 100
 

In the mid-1960s, Marcel Dassault and the French Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) noticed that many global routes covered relatively short distances. However, there was no aircraft suited for this type of traffic. The DGAC then proposed that Dassault compete with the Boeing 737 at the high end of the market—that is, with a very short-haul aircraft designed for domestic routes to meet railway competition, featuring 150 seats. The global need over 20 years forecasted a market of 1,500 aircraft. Although a private company, Dassault received 55% of the funds required for the launch from the state in 1967.
 

In 1968, the design office first prepared a version for 110–120 passengers, powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey engines mounted at the rear, and then settled on a 150-passenger aircraft with a range of 1,000 kilometers. The Mercure program was officially launched in April 1969. To attract foreign airlines, 20% of the construction was allocated to five different countries.
 

The production of this narrow-body aircraft, managed by Dassault Aviation, was distributed among Fiat (Italy), CASA (Spain), ADAP (Belgium), the Federal Aircraft Factory FW of Emmen (Switzerland), and Canadair (Canada). Final assembly was carried out by Dassault, in Mérignac for the prototype and in Istres for the production aircraft, in a factory specially built for this purpose on a 33-hectare site with 45,000 m² (484,376 sq ft) of buildings.
 

To enable series production, Dassault, at the request of DATAR, created four new factories: Martignas, Poitiers, Seclin, and Istres. This was the first major European civil aviation cooperation program, paving the way for future large-scale collaborative projects such as Airbus.
 

👉 The Mercure 100 prototype made its first flight in Mérignac on May 28, 1971, with a crew composed of Jean Coureau, Jérôme Résal, and Gérard Joyeuse..

👉 On June 2, 1971 (four days after its first flight), it arrived at the Paris Air Show during its 6th flight and after only 9 hours of test flying.
 

 

The Mercure’s wing was developed using calculation tools that were very advanced for the time: although larger than the Boeing 737, the Mercure flew faster.
 

The aircraft, powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-15 turbofan engines mounted under the wings, was named Mercure by Marcel Dassault: “Wanting to give it the name of a mythological god, I could only find one who had wings on his helmet and fins on his feet, hence the name Mercure (Mercury).”
 

On January 30, 1972, Air Inter ordered 10 aircraft.

The first production aircraft made its maiden flight on July 19, 1973.

Civil certification from the DGAC was obtained on February 12, 1974.

On June 4, 1974, the first commercial flight took place from Orly to Toulouse, along with the inaugural Orly–Lyon flight.
 

 

 

👉 In 1975, the Mercure 100 became the very first commercial airliner to be equipped with a head-up display (HUD), designed by Sextant Avionique (now Thales).

Continuing the automatic all-weather landing systems developed by Air Inter for the Caravelle (Air Inter’s Caravelle was the first commercial airliner to perform an automatic landing in 1969), the Mercure could land under Cat IIIa conditions, with a decision height as low as 35 feet (11 meters) and a runway visual range (RVR) of 125 meters (410 feet).
 

The head-up display in the center of the left windshield
 

Dassault tried to attract both major airlines and local carriers by presenting it as the successor to the Douglas DC-9, but it struggled to enter the American market dominated by Boeing and Douglas. Some airlines expressed interest but did not place orders, despite the Mercure’s break-even point being much lower than that of contemporary aircraft.
 

Break-even point of the Mercure 100

The program fell victim to the combination of five factors:

• The oil crisis, which reduced airlines’ revenue for purchasing new aircraft;
• Successive devaluations of the dollar;
• Higher inflation in Europe than in the United States, favoring Boeing and Douglas;
• Airlines’ preference for a versatile short- to medium-haul aircraft;
• The aircraft was penalized by its engines. The Pratt & Whitney engines were relatively old, noisy, and fuel-hungry.

The Mercure was appreciated by pilots for its good responsiveness and by air traffic controllers for its ability to lose altitude very quickly when needed. It was humorously said to be the civil aircraft with the highest dive speed! Pilots nicknamed it “The Air Inter Hunter,” with a maximum speed of 380 kt IAS / Mach 0.85, significantly higher than its direct competitors. Paris–Lyon flights on the Mercure averaged 35 minutes block-to-block, with a record of 28 minutes. An operating speed that remains unmatched today!
 

 

 

Ultimately, only ten Mercure 100 aircraft were built. The assembly line was shut down on December 19, 1975. Marcel Dassault tried for several years to revive the project, contacting American firms to propose producing the aircraft under license, and especially launching the Mercure 200 project, which was to feature a stretched fuselage and much more efficient Snecma/General Electric CFM-56 engines. The project was never completed, and the plans were transferred to Aérospatiale, inspiring, to some extent, the design of the Airbus A320.
 

On July 11, 1983, Air Inter, satisfied with the operation of its Mercure fleet and seeking an additional aircraft, ordered the upgrade of the Mercure 02 prototype, which had made its first flight on September 7, 1972. It was delivered to Air Inter on March 8, 1985, becoming the eleventh aircraft in its fleet.
 

👉 On February 7, 1985, an Air Inter Mercure achieved a first in France: a Paris–Nîmes flight with an entirely female crew. However, in the context of the time, passengers were only informed after landing, as many still refused to fly with an all-female crew.
Anne-Marie Peltier was Captain, Brigitte Lescop : First Officer, Colette Vibert : Flight Engineer,
Michele Ancelot: Cabin Chief, Corinne Bourret et Murielle Poulet - Flight Attendants.
 

👉 On April 29, 1995, the last two of the eleven Mercure aircraft in service on the Air Inter network completed their final flight; one of them was donated to the École supérieure des métiers de l’aéronautique (ESMA). A fuselage section of a Mercure is stored in the Greta d’Armorique hangar at Morlaix Aerodrome.
 

The summary of the Dassault Mercure is impressive:

• 360,000 flight hours;
• 44 million passengers carried;
• 440,000 flights, with no accidents;
• 98% on-time performance.
   

 

🛠 Genral Characteristics

• Crew: 3 PNT / 4 PNC
• Passengers: 150 passagers
• Length: 34.84 m (114 ft 4 in)
• wingspan: 30.55 m (100 ft 3 in)
• Heigth: 11.36 m (37 ft 3 in)
• Wing area: 116 m² (1,250 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 31,800 kg (70,107 lb)
• Maximum takeoff weigth: 56,500 kg (124,561 lb)
• Fuel quantity: 18,400 L (4,900 US gal; 4,000 imp gal)
• Engine: 2 × Pratt & Whitney JT8D-15, low-bypass turbofan engines, 69 kN - 7030 kg (15,500 lbf) of thrust each.

🛠 Performances Specifications

• Maximum speed: 704 km/h EAS (437 mph, 380 kn, M.85) up to 6,100 m (20,000 ft)
• Maximum speed: Mach 0.85 (1041 km/h) at (and above of) 6,100 m (20,000 ft)
• Cruise speed: 926 km/h (575 mph, 500 kn) à 6,100 m (20,000 ft)
• Range: 2,084 km (1,295 mi, 1,125 nmi) avec 4,100 kg (9,000 lb) de réserve de carburant.
• Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 17 m/s (3,300 ft/min) au niveau de la mer, à 45,000 kg (100,000 lb)
• Fuel consumption: 2.96–5.03 kg/km (10.5–17.8 lb/mi) (2,440 kg / 825 km to 4,700kg / 935km)
• Takeoff distance: 2,100 m (6,900 ft)
• Landing distance: 1,755 m (5,670 ft)