Morane-Saulnier

Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier is a French aircraft manufacturing company formed in October 1911 by Raymond Saulnier (1881–1964) and the Morane brothers, Leon (1885–1918) and Robert (1886–1968). The company was taken over and diversified in the 1960s.

Morane-Saulnier's first product was the Model A, a development of a monoplane design produced by the Morane company (sometimes called Morane-Borel, from the brothers partnership with Gabriel Borel). Using a wing-warping mechanism for control, this was the type in which Jules Védrines won the Paris-Madrid race on May 26, 1911.

Morane-Saulnier's first commercially successful design was the Morane-Saulnier G, a wire-braced shoulder-wing monoplane with wing warping. This led to the development of a series of aircraft and was very successful in racing and setting records. The Type G was a 2-seater, and was reduced slightly in size to produce the Morane-Saulnier H, a single-seater, and was given a faired fuselage to produce the Morane-Saulnier N single-seat fighter. The Morane-Saulnier H was modified so that its wings were mounted parasol fashion, above the fuselage to afford the observer a better view, creating the Morane-Saulnier L. The L was then fitted with a faired fuselage as on the N and ailerons to make the Morane-Saulnier LA, which was then completely redesigned (though looking very similar) to make the Morane-Saulnier P which would be the basis for a whole family of aircraft developed in the '20s. The Type N was developed into the larger and more powerful Morane-Saulnier I and the very similar Morane-Saulnier V, but these were not successful, being too powerful and having inadequate controls. The V was then redesigned to create the Morane-Saulnier AC which substituted ailerons for wing warping and had a strut-braced wing. The AC was not particularly successful, in part because of poor field of view a shoulder-mounted wing produced, so the Morane-Saulnier AI was developed, in which the wing was raised above the fuselage. The AI lost out in the competition to the SPAD XIII but was built in limited numbers in case there was a problem with the SPAD; as it turned out it was the AI that suffered structural problems. In parallel to the L the Morane-Saulnier BB was developed for the RFC, which was a Type P built as a biplane. Because the type 'BB' when pronounced in French sounds like Bebe (or baby), this became the type's nickname. Most of these types had no fixed fin, or horizontal stabilizer, with the result that they were not only very sensitive on the controls, but also could not even be flown hands off. One early pilot noted that if one left the aircraft to its own devices it would end up going upside down in the opposite direction. Despite this, many were used as trainers, including a great many that had their wings stripped so they couldn't fly, creating what was known as a Penguin.

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