Morane-Saulnier AI

AI

Role	fighter/trainer
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Morane-Saulnier
First flight	August 1917
Primary user	French Air Force
Number built	1210^[1]

The Morane-Saulnier AI (also Type AI) was a French parasol-wing fighter aircraft produced by Morane-Saulnier during World War I.

Development and design

The AI was developed as a refinement of the Morane-Saulnier Type N concept, and was intended to replace the Nieuport 17 and SPAD VII in French service, in competition with the SPAD XIII, which it was built as a back-up for. Its Gnome Monosoupape 9N 160 CV rotary engine was mounted in a circular open-front cowling. The strut braced parasol wing was swept back. The spars and ribs of the circular section fuselage were wood, wire-braced and covered in fabric, and faired out with wood stringers.^[2] The production aircraft were given service designations based on whether they had 1 gun (designated MoS 27) or 2 guns (designated MoS 29).^[1]^[3]

Operational history

A number of escadrilles were created to operate the AI, but by mid-May 1918, most of the aircraft were replaced by the SPAD XIII.^[2] The aircraft became an advanced trainer, designated MoS 30.^[3] Many were used post-war after having been surplussed off, as aerobatic aircraft, including one which was flown by Charles Nungesser.

Fifty-one MoS 30s were purchased by the American Expeditionary Force as pursuit trainers.^[3]

Variants

MoS 27: Production fighter variant with one 0.303in (7.7mm) Vickers machine gun and powered by a Gnome Monosoupape 9NI rotary engine.
MoS 29: Production fighter variant with two 0.303in (7.7mm) Vickers machine guns and powered by a Gnome Monosoupape 9NI rotary engine.
MoS 30: Production advanced trainer with either a 89kW (120hp) le Rhone 9Jb or a 101kW (135hp) le Rhone 9Jby rotary engine.
MoS 30bis: Variant of the MoS 30 with a de-rated le Rhone 9Jby engine 67kW (90hp).

Operators

Belgian Morane-Saulnier AI

In addition to military operators, the Morane-Saulnier AI was popular with French aerobatic pilots and a number carried civil registrations.

Belgium

Belgian Air Force

French Morane-Saulnier AI

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakian Air Force - operated a single MoS.30.

France

French Air Force
- Escadrille MS 156
- Escadrille MS 158
- Escadrille MS 161

Japan

Evaluated a single MoS.30 in 1922.

Peru

Peruvian Air Force

Swiss Morane-Saulnier AI

Soviet Union

Soviet Air Force - Four aircraft, used for tests and trials.

Switzerland

Swiss Air Force operated at least one aircraft.

United States

American Expeditionary Force - operated 51 MoS.30s as trainers.

Survivors

Morane-Saulnier AI at Fantasy Of Flight

Three AIs are flown from La Ferté-Alais.^[1]

The Fantasy of Flight collection in Polk City, Florida and an AI that was sold to the United States Army Air Service in 1918 for testing at McCook Field in Ohio until being sold off for private use. This AI joined the Tallmantz Collection which was acquired by Fantasy of Flight in 1985. It was restored in England by Personal Plane Services in the late 1980s.^[4]

Another AI is in the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome collection, and was formerly flown in the weekend airshows there for some time.^[5]

Specifications (MoS 27.C1, 150 hp Monosoupape)

Morane-Saulnier AI drawing

Data from War Planes of the First World War: Volume Five Fighters^[6]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 5.65 m (18 ft 6⅜ in)
Wingspan: 8.51 m (27 ft 11 in)
Height: 2.40 m (7 ft 10¼ in)
Wing area: 13.39 m² (144.1 ft²)
Empty weight: 421 kg (926 lb)
Gross weight: 649 kg (1,428 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Gnome Monosoupape 9N, 112 kW (150 hp) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 225 km/h (140 mph)
Endurance: 1 hours 45 min
Service ceiling: 7,000^[7] m (22,965 ft)
Rate of climb: 8.3 m/s (500^[8] ft/min)

Armament

1 7.7mm (0.303-in) Vickers machine gun forward of cockpit

References

Notes

1 2 3 Donald 1997, p. 659.
1 2 Holmes, 2005. p 36.
1 2 3 Lamberton 1960, p. 84.
↑ "Morane A1." Fantasy of Flight. Retrieved: 25 March 2012.
↑
↑ Bruce 1973, pp. 122–123.
↑ Angelucci 1983, p. 45.
↑ Climb to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 2 minutes.

Bibliography

Angelucci, Enzo. The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, 1914-1980. San Diego, California: The Military Press, 1983. ISBN 0-517-41021-4.
Bruce, J.M. War Planes of the First World War: Volume Five Fighters. London: Macdonald, 1972. ISBN 0-356-03779-7.
Davilla, Dr. James J.; Soltan, Arthur (1997). French Aircraft of the First World War. Mountain View, CA: Flying Machines Press. ISBN 978-1891268090.
Donald, David, ed. The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Ottawa, Canada: Prospero Books, 1997. p. 659. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.
Holmes, Tony. Jane's Vintage Aircraft Recognition Guide. London: Harper Collins, 2005. p. 36. ISBN 0-00-719292-4.
Lamberton, W.M. Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Herts, UK: Harleyford Publications Ltd., 1960, pp. 84–85.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Morane-Saulnier AI.

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome's page on their original Morane-Saulnier AI (misdesignated "A-1")

Aircraft produced by Morane-Saulnier

Designation Letters	A B C F G GA GB H I L LA M N Nm O P S T TRK U V WR Y AC AE AF AFH AI AN/ANB/ANR/ANL/ANS AR AS BB BH

Numerical Sequence	MoS.1 MoS.2 MoS.3 MoS.4 MoS.5 MoS.6 MoS.7 MoS.8 MoS.9 MoS.10 MoS.13 MoS.21 MoS.22 MoS.23 MoS.25 MoS.26 MoS.27 MoS.28 MoS.29 MoS.30 MoS.31 MoS.32 MoS.33 MoS.34 MoS.35 MoS.42 MoS.43 MoS.50 MoS.51 MoS.53 MoS.121 MoS.129 MoS.130 MoS.131 MoS.132 MoS.133 MoS.134 MoS.136 MoS.137 MoS.138 MoS.139 MoS.140 MoS.141 MoS.147 MoS.148 MoS.149 MoS.152 MS.180 MS.181 MoS.185 MS.200 MS.221 MS.222 MS.223 MS.224 MS.225 MS.226 MS.227 MS.229 MS.230 MS.250 MS.251 MS.275 MS.278 MS.300 MS.301 MS.302 MS.315 MS.316 MS.317 MS.325 MS.340 MS.341 MS.342 MS.343 MS.345 MS.350 MS.405 MS.406 MS.408 MS.410 MS.411 MS.430 MS.433 MS.435 MS.450 MS.470 MS.472 MS.474 MS.470 MS.475 MS.476 MS.477 MS.479 MS.500 MS.501 MS.502 MS.504 MS.505 MS.506 MS.560 MS.570 MS.603 MS.700 MS.701 MS.703 MS.704 MS.730 MS.731 MS.732 MS.733 MS.755 MS.760 MS.880 MS.1500

Names & Nicknames	Alcyon Borel Bullet Criquet Epervier Fleuret Monococque Paris Pétrel Rallye Vanneau

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