| Type G | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Sport aircraft Type of aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Morane-Saulnier |
| First flight | 1912 |
TheMorane-Saulnier G was a two-seat sport and racingmonoplane produced in France before the First World War.[1][2] It was a development of the racing monoplanes designed byLéon Morane and Raymond Saulnier after leavingBorel and, like its predecessors, was a wire-braced, shoulder-wing monoplane.[2] Construction was of fabric-covered wood throughout, except for the undercarriage struts which were of steel tube.[3]
The type was a sporting success. In April 1913,Roland Garros took second place in the inauguralSchneider Cup in a floatplane version,[4] finishing with a time of 40 minutes 40 seconds.[5] On 26 June,Claude Grahame-White flew another float-equipped example fromParis toLondon viaLe Havre,Boulogne-sur-Mer, andDover,[6] covering some 500 km (310 mi) that day.[7] Between 21 and 28 September the same year, two float-equipped Type Gs competed at the seaplane meeting atSan Sebastián, withLord Carbery winning the short takeoff prize on one, andEdmond Audemars winning the maneuverability prize on the other.[8] The following week, Carbery flew his Type G in the Italian Waterplane Contest fromLake Como toPavia and back, along with two other Type Gs in the field of fifteen competitors, these flown by Garros and Morane.[9][10] Garros not only won the Grand Prize in the "general class", but also the prizes for best speed (127.7 km/h, 79.8 mph) and greatest altitude (2,100 m, 6,000 ft).[9]
On 28 September 1913 Roland Garros became the first person to cross theMediterranean Sea by air, flying fromFréjus in the south of France toBizerte inTunisia[11] in a Morane-Saulnier G.
In 1914, Russian manufacturerDuks arranged to build the type under licence at their Moscow factory for the Russian Army,[9] and the same year, the Turkish military ordered 40 examples.[9] Before these could be delivered, however, war broke out, and the aircraft were impressed into the French Army.[9] To these, the Army soon added an order of 94 aircraft, and the British Royal Flying Corps also acquired a number, these latter machines purchased fromGrahame-White, who was manufacturing the type in the UK under licence.[2] At the outbreak of war, the type's military value was found to be wanting, and the French machines were quickly relegated to training duties.[2]
Despite this, a dedicated single-seat fighter version was built in 1915, armed with an 8 mmHotchkiss machine gun that fired through the propeller arc, the propeller blades being protected by deflector plates.[12] Only one or two prototypes were built, and the type never entered service.[13]
Some Type Gs were modified by Morane-Saulnier to have their wings mounted above the fuselage, parasol-fashion, rather than at the fuselage sides. This arrangement was found to offer far better visibility for the pilot, and formed the basis for theMorane-Saulnier L.[2]
A Type G is preserved at theMuseo del Aire (Madrid) (Museo del Aire de Cuatrovientos).
Various versions were given theSTAé designation MoS-2, MoS-14 (GB), MoS-15 (GB), MoS-17 (G), MoS-18 (G) and MoS-19 (GA).
Data fromJane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I, p. 116
General characteristics
Performance
