Morane-Saulnier N Explained
The
Morane-Saulnier N, also known as the
Morane-Saulnier Type N, was a French
monoplane fighter aircraft of the
First World War. Designed and manufactured by
Morane-Saulnier, the Type N entered service in April
1915 with the
Aéronautique Militaire designated as the
MoS-5 C1. It also equipped four
squadrons of the
Royal Flying Corps, in which it was nicknamed the
Bullet, and was operated in limited numbers by the 19th Squadron of the
Imperial Russian Air Force.
Description
While the Type N was a clean, streamlined aircraft, it was not easy to fly due to a combination of stiff lateral control caused by using wing warping instead of ailerons, sensitive pitch and yaw controls caused by using an all flying tail, and very high landing speed for the period. The Type N mounted a single unsynchronized forward-firing 7.9 mm Hotchkiss machine gun which used the deflector wedges first used on the Morane-Saulnier Type L, in order to fire through the propeller arc. The later I and V types used a .303-in Vickers machine gun.
A large metal "casserolle" spinner, appearing much like those used on the Deperdussin Monocoque pre-war racer of 1912, was designed to streamline the aircraft; but caused the engines to overheat. In 1915, the spinners were removed and the overheating problems disappeared with little loss in performance.
Morane-Saulnier manufactured 49 aircraft but the model was quickly rendered obsolete by the pace of aircraft development at that time.
Variants
- Morane-Saulnier Type N
Single-seat fighter-scout monoplane.
- Morane-Saulnier Type Nm
The Type Nm had a modified tail unit. Built in small numbers.
- Morane-Saulnier I
more powerful version with 110 Le Rhône 9J.
- Morane-Saulnier V
Longer range version of I.Operators
- Ukrainian People's Republic
Bibliography
- Book: Bruce, J.M.. Morane-Saulnier Types N, I, V. Windsock Datafile 58. Albatros Publications. Hertfordshire, UK. 1996. B00FEK5A4M.
- Bruce, J.M. War Planes of the First World War: Fighters: Volume Five. London: Macdonald, 1972. .
- Bruce, Jack. "The Bullets and the Guns". Air Enthusiast. No. 9, February–May 1979. pp. 61–75.
- Book: Davilla. Dr. James J.. Soltan. Arthur . French Aircraft of the First World War. Flying Machines Press. Mountain View, CA. 1997 . 978-1891268090.
