Du Merle graduated from the "École Polytechnique" (1927) and the "École nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace" (1932). He began his career as a military pilot, from 1933 to 1935, on more than hundred types of aircraft. From 1940 to 1950, he taught aerospace engineering at the "École nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace". In 1948, he became the first director of the French Civil Aviation University, until 1951.