in the 1960s, andré merville was president of the boulogne based company helice g. merville, which had been the chief supplier of wooden propellers for french aircraft since the end of world war i. he sought to broaden the firm's product range by producing both light aircraft and gliders, several of which were versions of other manufacturer's designs. the merville d.63 was one example, a modified druine d.62 condor with a french, rather than american engine and a tricycle undercarriage.