Morane-Saulnier AC

Type AC
Role	Fighter
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Morane-Saulnier
Introduction	late 1916
Retired	soon after
Primary user	Armée de l'Air
Number built	32

The Morane-Saulnier AC, also known as Morane-Saulnier Type AC and MoS 23, was a French fighter of the 1910s.

Development

The AC was conceived in mid-1916, being derived from the Type N via the unbuilt Type U. It differed from earlier single-seat Morane-Saulnier aircraft in that it had ailerons for lateral control rather than wing warping, and because of its rigid wing bracing, with a wire braced truss of steel tubes supporting the wings from below.^[1] It appeared in autumn of that year, and was found to be aerodynamically clean.

Operational history

The AC's first flight is unrecorded, however it is assumed that it was late summer 1916. After initial testing thirty aircraft were ordered for the Aviation Militaire. Although of advanced design and good performance, the AC was considered inferior to the SPAD S.VII and therefore was not adopted in quantity. Two examples were provided to the Royal Flying Corps for evaluation.

Operators

France

Armée de l'Air

United Kingdom

Royal Flying Corps

Specifications

Data from War Planes of the First World War:Volume Five Fighters^[2]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 7.05 m (23 ft 1½ in)
Wingspan: 9.80 m (32 ft 1⅝ in)
Height: 2.73 m (8 ft 11½ in)
Wing area: 15.00 m² (161.46 ft²)
Empty weight: 435 kg (957 lb)
Gross weight: 658 kg (1448 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Le Rhône 9J or Le Rhône 9Jb nine-cylinder air-cooled rotary engine, 82 kW (110 hp) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 178 km/h (111 mph)
Endurance: 2 hours 30 min
Service ceiling: 5,600 m (18,370 ft)
Rate of climb: 5.6^[3] m/s (1,100 ft/min)

Armament

1 x 7.7mm synchronised Vickers machine gun

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Morane-Saulnier.

Notes

↑ Bruce 1972, pp. 95–97.
↑ Bruce 1972, p. 104.
↑ Climb to 2,000 m (6,650 ft):5 min 55 s.

Bibliography

Bruce, J.M. (1972). War Planes of the First World War:Volume Five Fighters. London: Macdonald. 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.
Green, William; Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters. Godalming, UK: Salamander Books. p. 415.

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

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/10/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.