Percival Merganser

The Percival Merganser was a light civil transport of the late 1940s, a twin-engine, high-wing monoplane of all-metal stressed-skin construction with a retractable tricycle undercarriage. It was designed as a five-passenger light airliner with an emphasis on passenger appeal, so the high wing and tricycle gear were chosen to give a good view and a low, level floor. Its fuselage was shown at the Paris Aero Show, but the design was already doomed because the de Havilland Gipsy Queen 51 engines it was designed for were not available. The only Merganser to fly made its first flight from Luton on 9 May 1947 on loaned engines and was scrapped in August 1948. Its flight data led to the larger Prince, President and Pembroke series.