Morane-Saulnier H

Type H
	Morane Saulnier Type H on display at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace at Paris Le Bourget airport
Role	Sport aircraft
Manufacturer	Morane-Saulnier
First flight	1913
Developed from	Morane-Saulnier G
Variants	Morane-Saulnier L

The Morane-Saulnier H was an early aircraft first flown in France in the months immediately preceding the First World War; it was a single-seat derivative of the successful Morane-Saulnier G with a slightly reduced wingspan^[1]^[2] Like the Type G, it was a successful sporting and racing aircraft: examples serving with the French army were used in the opening phases of the war.

German versions, the Fokker Eindecker fighters, were armed with forward-firing machine guns and became the first single-seat fighter aircraft so armed.

Service use

During the second international aero meet, held at Wiener Neustadt in June 1913, Roland Garros won the precision landing prize in a Type H.^[3] Later that same year, a Morane-Saulnier H was used to complete the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean, from Fréjus in the south of France to Bizerte in Tunisia.^[4]

The French Army ordered a batch of 26 aircraft under the designation MoS.1.^[2] French-built machines saw limited service in the opening stages of World War I, with pilots carrying out reconnaissance missions and occasionally engaging in aerial combat using revolvers and carbines.^[2] The British Royal Flying Corps also acquired a small number, impressing three civilian-owned aircraft on the outbreak of the war, and ordering 36 machines Grahame-White, who was manufacturing the type in the UK under licence in two batches. The RFC mainly used the Type Hs for training, with only one example seeing service with operational squadrons (4 and 12 Squadrons).^[5]

German copies

A German-built copy entered production as the Fokker M.5 in 1913: it featured a slightly longer fuselage, framed in steel tube rather than wood, a comma shaped rudder, and a redesigned undercarriage integrated with the under-wing bracing pylons. When armed in 1915 with a synchronised machine gun it became the first of the Fokker "Eindecker" monoplane fighters.^[6]

The type was also produced under licence in Germany by the Pfalz Flugzeugwerke: during the war the company built armed versions as the E.I, E.II, E.IV, E.V, and E.VI, with increasingly powerful engines. Like the better known Fokkers, with which they were often confused by Allied airmen, these were armed with a single, synchronised lMG 08 machine gun.^[7]^[8]

Survivors

A Type H is preserved at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace in Le Bourget and another at the Fantasy of Flight in Florida. Several replicas are in museums or flying.

Variants

Morane-Saulnier versions

Type G two seater
Type H single seater
Type L parasol monoplane
Type M armoured single seater
Type O racing monoplane developed from H, two built including one for Roland Garros that was fitted with wheels and floats

MoS.1 Official designation for Type H
MoS.2 Official designation for Type G
MoS.3 Official designation for Type L
MoS.13 Official designation for Type M

Pfalz versions

E.I - with Oberursel U.0 rotary engine (45 built)^[9]
E.II - with Oberursel U.I rotary engine (130 built)^[10]
E.IV - with Oberursel U.III rotary engine (46 built)^[11]
E.V - with Mercedes D.I water-cooled, inline engine (20 built)^[12]
E.VI - with Oberursel U.I engine, lengthened fuselage, enlarged tail fin and reduced bracing (20 built as trainers)^[13]^[14]

Operators

France

Aéronautique Militaire

Austria-Hungary

Austro-Hungarian Navy - (Pfalz-built versions)

Belgium

Belgian Air Force

Denmark

Army Flying Service - 2 examples.

Germany

Luftstreitkräfte - (Pfalz-built versions)

Portugal

Portuguese Air Force - one aircraft.

United Kingdom

Royal Flying Corps

Russia

Imperial Russian Air Service

Switzerland

Swiss Air Force - two aircraft

Specifications

Data from flugzeuginfo.net

General characteristics

Crew: One pilot
Length: 5.84 m (19 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 9.12 m (29 ft 11 in)
Height: 2.26 m (7 ft 5 in)
Empty weight: 188 kg (415 lb)
Gross weight: 444 kg (979 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Le Rhône 9C , 60 kW (80 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 120 km/h (75 mph, 65 kn)
Range: 177 km (111 mi, 96 nmi)
Service ceiling: 1,000 m (3,280 ft)

References

^ Taylor 1989, p.648
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft", p.2539
^ Hartmann 2001, p. 11
^ Flying the Mediterranean Flight 27 September 1913
^ Bruce 1982, pp. 287–289
^ Brannon (1996), pp.7-9
^ The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft, p.2698
^ Grosz 1996
^ Herris 2001, p.10
^ Herris 2001, p.16
^ Herris 2001, p.21
^ Herris 2001, p.24
^ Herris 2001, p.25
^ Grosz 1996, p.27

Bibliography

Brannon, D. Edgar (1996). Fokker Eindecker in Action. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publication.
Bruce, J. M. (1982). The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-30084-X.
Davilla, Dr. James J.; Soltan, Arthur (1997). French Aircraft of the First World War. Mountain View, CA: Flying Machines Press. ISBN 978-1891268090.
Grosz, P.M. (1996). Pfalz E.I–E.VI. Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire: Albatros Publications.
Hartmann, Gérard (2001). "L'incroyable Morane-Saulnier hydro" (PDF). La Coupe Schneider et hydravions anciens/Dossiers historiques hydravions et moteurs. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
Herris, Jack (2001). Pflaz Aircraft of World War I. Boulder, Colorado: Flying Machines Press. ISBN 1-891268-15-5.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. London: Aerospace Publishing.
"Morane-Saulnier Type H". flugzeuginfo.net. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
Neulen, Hans-Werner & Cony, Christophe (August 2000). "Les aigles du Kaiser en Terre Sainte" [The Kaiser's Eagles in the Holy Land]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (89): 34–43. ISSN 1243-8650.
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
Angelucci, Enzo (1983). The Rand McNally encyclopedia of military aircraft, 1914-1980. The Military Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-517-41021 4.

v t e Morane-Saulnier aircraft
Designation letters	A B C F G GA GB H I J K L LA LH M N Nm O P Q S T TRK U V WR X Y AC AE AF AFH AI AN/ANB/ANR/ANL/ANS AR AS AT AU AV 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.11 MoS.12 MoS.13 MoS.14 MoS.15 MoS.16 MoS.17 MoS.18 MoS.19 MoS.20 MoS.21 MoS.22 MoS.23 MoS.24 MoS.25 MoS.26 MoS.27 MoS.28 MoS.29 MoS.30 MoS.31 MoS.32 MoS.33 MoS.34 MoS.35 MoS.36 MoS.37 MoS.38 MoS.39 MoS.40 MoS.41 MoS.42 MoS.43 MoS.44 MoS.45 MoS.46 MoS.47 MoS.48 MoS.49 MoS.50 MoS.51 MoS.52 MoS.53 MoS.56 MoS.60 MoS.120 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 MS.152 MS.160 MS.180 MS.181 MS.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.260 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.630 MS.631 MS.700 MS.701 MS.703 MS.704 MS.730 MS.731 MS.732 MS.733 MS.755 MS.760 MS.785 MS.860 MS.880 MS.1001 MS.1500
Names and nicknames	Alcyon Borel Bullet Comté de Nice or Nice (project) Criquet Épervier, Épervier II and Super 1500 Fantôme Fleuret Lévrier Monococque Paris and Super Paris Pétrel Rallye, Rallye Club, Super Rallye and Rallye Commodore Statodyne (project) Vanneau Versailles (project)

v t e Idflieg E-class aircraft designations
Fokker	E.I E.II E.III E.IV E.V
Junkers	E.I
LFG Roland	E.I
LVG	E.I
NFW	E.I E.II
Pfalz	E.I E.II E.III E.IV E.V E.VI
Siemens-Schuckert	E.I E.II E.III E.IV