Morane-Saulnier BB explained

The Morane-Saulnier BB was a military observation aircraft produced in France during World War I for use by Britain's Royal Flying Corps.^{[1] [2]} It was a conventional single-bay biplane design with seating for the pilot and observer in tandem, open cockpits. The original order called for 150 aircraft powered by 110-hp Le Rhône 9J rotary engines, but shortages meant that most of the 94 aircraft eventually built were delivered with 80 hp Le Rhône 9C rotaries instead. A water-cooled Hispano-Suiza 8A engine was trialled as an alternative in the Type BH, but this remained experimental only. A production licence was sold to the Spanish company Compañía Española de Construcciones Aeronáuticas (CECA), which built twelve fitted with Hispano-Suiza engines in 1916.

Operational history

The type equipped a number of RFC and RNAS squadrons both in its original observation role and, equipped with a forward-firing Lewis gun mounted on the top wing, as a fighter.

Variants

MS.7 :official French government STAe designation for the BB

MS.8 :official French government STAe designation for the BH

BB :Le Rhône 9J rotary powered variant

BH :Hispano-Suiza 8A V-8 powered variant

CECA-MS or CECA-Saulnier : designations used for BB/BH built in Spain

Operators

• Royal Flying Corps^[3]
  • No. 1 Squadron RFC
  • No. 3 Squadron RFC
  • No. 12 Squadron RFC
  • No. 60 Squadron RFC
• Royal Naval Air Service
  • No. 1 Squadron RNAS
  • No. 3 Squadron RNAS
  • No. 4 Squadron RNAS

• Spanish Air Force

• Imperial Russian Air Service

References

• Book: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft . Aerospace Publishing. London .
• Book: Bruce, J.M.. The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing) . 1982 . Putnam. London . 0-370-30084-X .
• Book: Taylor, Michael J. H. . Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation . 1989 . Studio Editions . London .
• Web site: Parmentier . Bruno . Morane-Saulnier BB . Aviafrance - Un siècle d'aviation française . 2008-11-07.

Further reading

• Book: Lacaze . Henri . Lherbert . Claude . Morane Saulnier: ses avions, ses projets . 2013 . Lela Presse . Outreau, France . 978-2-914017-70-1 . fr. amp. Morane Saulnier: Their Aircraft and Projects.

Notes and References

1. Taylor 1989, 684
2. "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft", 2538
3. Bruce 1982, p.306.