Dassault MD 550 Mystère-Delta
Avions Marcel Dassault · France · first flew 1955 · fighter
The Dassault MD 550 Mystère-Delta was a small French experimental delta-wing jet of 1955, built to explore supersonic flight characteristics and to develop the technology that led directly to the Mirage series.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, delta |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 2 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Tiny, needle-nosed delta demonstrator with twin jets buried in a wasp-waist fuselage |
| T — Tail | No tailplane |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Tiny, needle-nosed delta demonstrator with twin jets buried in a wasp-waist fuselage
- Pure delta wing with no horizontal tail surfaces
- Very small overall — less than 10 m wingspan — with pointed nose probe
An unmistakably tiny pure-delta jet — shorter wingspan than a modern car is long — with a pointed nose, twin engine intakes at the wing roots, and no horizontal tail.
Specifications
- The Dassault MD 550 Mystère-Delta has a length of 12.9 m (42 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 7.4 m (24 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 1150 km/h (715 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Dassault designed the MD 550 as a private-venture demonstrator to test the delta-wing concept at transonic and low supersonic speeds. Powered by two Armstrong Siddeley Viper turbojets, it was extremely compact. The programme demonstrated sufficient promise that Dassault scaled up the concept into the Mirage I and subsequently the legendary Mirage III. The MD 550 itself achieved Mach 1.15 in level flight.
Variants
The MD 550-01 was the sole prototype; a modified version was re-designated Mirage I as development continued toward a production standard.
Where you'll see it
Operated exclusively as a research aircraft by Dassault and the French government; it never entered operational service.
Related aircraft
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