Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris - Design and Development

Design and Development

In the early 1950s the French Air Force needed an ab-initio jet trainer; Morane-Saulnier proposed the MS.755 Fleuret, but the competition was won by the Fouga Magister. The company re-designed the MS.755 as a four-seat liaison aircraft which they called the MS.760 Paris.

On 29 July 1954 the prototype MS.760, registered F-WGVO (F-BGVO), took off on its maiden flight. With its T-shaped vertical stabilizer, low wing, and two Turbomeca Marboré II 400 kg turbines internally mounted side-by-side in the aft fuselage, the Paris offered a platform characterized by inherent stability. The aircraft had four seats, two in the front and two in the back, and a retractable tricycle landing gear.

The French military ordered 50 aircraft for liaison duties, for both the French Air Force (36) and Navy (14). The first production aircraft flew on 27 February 1958.

In 1961, production plants started rolling out the MS.760B Paris II, fitted with two Marboré VI 480 kg engines, wingtip fuel tanks, air conditioning, and a bigger luggage compartment. On 24 February 1964, a six-passenger version, designated MS.760C Paris III, made its first flight, but there was no production of this variant. Production of the Paris II ceased, and production of the Paris III never started. Some 153 aircraft (Paris I and Paris II) were produced for the French Air Force (36 planes) and Navy (14 planes), and the air forces of Argentina, and Brazil. Construction nr. (serial numbers) 109 and 110 were never built.