Morane-Saulnier

Morane-Saulnier Type P by JOYSTICK MODELS 1/72 scale, Vacuform.

Morane-Saulnier refined their Type L monoplane with a more streamlined fuselage, revised cowling and a large spinner. The wing had ailerons instead of wing warping and was given the designation LA. In early 1916 the LA was superseded by the Type P with the 110hp Le Rhone, the prototype making its official tests on March 31, 1916. About 550 Type P planes were completed. The Type P served with both French and RFC units until October 1917.

This model is the subject of a color sheet in Windsock Internationl Vol 9, No.3 May/June 1993, inside back cover. Unfortunately, it's identity and escadrille are unknown. The kit was built using the plans on page 35 of the above Windsock.

Morane Saulnier Type L by Scaleplanes, 1/72 vacuform

The MS Type L was the first tractor "fighter" aeroplane to carry a fixed machine-gun firing forward through the airscrew arc. The Parasol aircraft was introduced at the Paris Aero Salon on December 5, 1913 with a 100 hp Gnome Monosoupape engine and was equipped with a specially made camera installed behind the observer's seat. Its military importance was immediately recognized.

The RFC ordered 52 Type Ls in France and another 25 were ordered for the RNAS at Dunkerque, No. 1 Wing. It was on June 7, 1915, that Sub. Lt. RAJ Warneford brought down the Zeppelin LZ37 flying No. 3253. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for the feat.

The Type L was built in Germany by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke GmbH, and in Russia by Duks and Lyebedeva.

Although not a remarkable airplane, the Type L holds a unique place in history.

The kit is a Scaleplane vacuform that I built a number of years ago. I brought it home recently to add it to my website when I discovered a Blue Rider decal sheet for Warneford's plane. This is a basic vacuform kit with no metal parts or decals. The engine and prop are from Aeroclub, a Fotocut metal seat is in the cockpit and Blue Rider provided the decals. The CDL is probably Floquil Depot Buff lightened with a little white. I do not remember how long it took to build the kit.

Reference material is Datafile # 16.

Morane Saulnier 'Type N' by Revell. 1/72nd scale injection mold.

The Type N entered into service in April 1915 powered by a 80hp Le Rhone 9 cyl engine with a top speed of 90mph. It was a graceful aircraft that utilized advanced aerodynamic design but it was hard to control due to wing warping and it had a high landing speed. It was armed with a Vickers or Hotchkiss machine gun that fired through the propeller using metal deflector plates to protect the prop while firing. Only 49 of the aircraft were produced mainly due to the rapid aircraft development that rendered the plane obsolete in a short period of time.

The model depicted is A.186, flown by Lt. T. Bayetto of No. 60 Squadron RFC, July 1916. It was built in 1984 out of the box with the colors of unbleached linen and bright red on all metal areas as per the order of July 17, 1916.

Morane-Saulnier Type I by Eastern Express 1/72nd scale injection molded

In an attempt to increase speed, a 110hp LeRhone was added to the Morane-Saulnier N. However, the added weight of the engine, while increasing the speed, did not increase it's efficiency, as the added weight mading the machine very difficult and even dangerous to fly. The 110 Moranes were fitted with a Vickers gun with an inefficient interrupter gear that almost always put a few rounds through the propeller.

Records are sketchy but it appears four "I" Moranes were used by the RFC with 20 planes going to Russia. Some of these latter ones were fitted with skies for the winter of 1916 and the subject of this kit, per the front cover of Windsock Datafile 58 by J M Bruce.

The kit is currently produced by Eastern Express but it was originally produced by Temems in 1995. A review of the kit can be found in Windsock International Vol 11 No 2 pages 31-32. The kit has simple decals and does include the skies even though this release does not mention them in the instructions.

The kit took about 12 hours to build due to the handmade decal on the side and the amount of Dermel work necessary in the fuselage. The cockpit opening was closed up using sheet plastic and the engine and machine gun came from the scrape box. This was a very easy kit to build and it makes a nice addition to the Morane collection.