Percival Merganser

P.48 Merganser

Aircraft Picture - This image of the Merganser taken from a Percival Aircraft brochure, c. 1947.

Role: Light utility aeroplane
Manufacturer: Percival Aircraft Limited
Designer: Edgar Percival
First flight: 9 May 1947
Retired: 1948
Number built: 2 (1 flying)

The Percival Merganser was a light, civil transport of the late 1940s. It was a twin-engine, high-wing monoplane of all-metal, stressed skin construction with retractable tricycle undercarriage.

Design and development

The Merganser was designed as a five-passenger, light airliner with an emphasis on "passenger appeal". To this end, a high-wing configuration and tricycle landing gear were chosen to provide the best view and a low, level floor for easy access.

The fuselage, having been completed in November 1946, was shipped by train ferry to Paris to be displayed at the Aero Show. By this time, the Merganser was already doomed, since it was designed to be powered by de Havilland Gipsy Queen engines and neither these nor any suitable substitute were available.

Operational history

Only one Merganser was flown; when it made its first flight on 9 May 1947 from Luton Airport, the engines were on loan from the Ministry of Supply. The company was able to carry out extensive flight trials and obtain much valuable data. Although it appeared at the SBAC Show at Radlett in September 1947, it was scrapped at Luton in August 1948.

A second Merganser was used as a static and structural test airframe.

Although the Merganser never entered production, further development, based on the data gathered from its test programme, would lead to the larger Prince, President and Pembroke series for which a suitable powerplant was available.

Specifications (Merganser)

Data from British Civil Aircraft since 1919, Volume III.

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Capacity: 5 passengers
Length: 47 ft 9 in (14.56 m)
Wingspan: 40 ft 8 in (12.40 m)
Height: 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)
Wing area: 319 ft² (29.6 m²)
Empty weight: 5,300 lb (2,409 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,300 lb (3,318 kg)
Powerplant: 2 x— de Havilland Gipsy Queen 51 or 71 six-cylinder inline, 296 hp (221 kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 168 knots (193 mph, 311 km/h)
Cruise speed: 139 knots (160 mph, 258 km/h)
Range: 696 NM (800 mi, 1,228 km)
Service ceiling: 24,000 ft (7,310 m)
Rate of climb: 1,010 ft/min (5.1 m/s)
Wing loading: 22.9 lb/ft² (112 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.081 hp/lb (0.13 kW/kg)

Related development

Percival Prince
Percival President
Percival Pembroke
Percival Sea Prince

Bibliography

Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft 1919-1972: Volume III. London: Putnam, 1988. ISBN 0 85177 818 6.

Percival Merganser Pictures

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Source: WikiPedia