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With Gerard Muselli at the controls, the "Super Mystere" was the first European fighter to break the sound barrier in level flight during its first flight, on May 15, 1956.
The Super Mystere represents the final step in evolution which began with Dassault Ouragan and progressed through Mystere II/III and Mystere IV. While earlier Mystere variants could attain supersonic speeds only in a dive, Super Mystere could exceed the speed of sound in level flight. This was achieved thanks to the new thin wing with 45° of sweep (compared with 41° of sweep in Mystere IV and only 33° in Mystere II) and the use of an afterburner-equipped turbojet engine.
The first prototype Super Mystere B.1, powered by Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7R, took to the air on March 2, 1955. The aircraft broke the sound barrier in level flight the following day. The aircraft entered production in 1957 as Super Mystere B.2. The production version differed from the prototype by having a more powerful SNECMA Atar 101G engine. In 1958, two Super Mystere B.4 prototypes were built. Equipped with a new 48° swept wing and a more powerful SNECMA Atar 9B engine, the aircraft were capable of Mach 1.4. Production never materialized because the faster Dassault Mirage III was entering service. In 1973, Israeli Air Force upgraded their Super Mystere B.2 with a non-afterburning version of the Pratt & Whitney J52-P8A and new avionics.
A total of 180 Super Mystere B.2 were built.
Super Mystere served with French Air Force until 1977. In addition, 36 aircraft were sold to Israeli Air Force in 1958. The aircraft saw action in Six-Day War in 1967 and Yom Kippur War in 1973. They were well-liked by the Israeli pilots and were a match for the Arab MiG-19 in air-to-air combat.
In 1975, Israel sold 12 complete airframes and 6 sets of spares to Honduras. The aircraft were involved in numerous border skirmishes with Nicaragua and were finally withdrawn from service in 1996. However, the 11 surviving aircraft were pressed back into service in 1998 to deal with drug traffickers illegally crossing Honduran airspace.
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