| Type L | |
|---|---|
 RFC Morane-Saulnier L | |
| General information | |
| Type | scout |
| Manufacturer | AéroplanesMorane-Saulnier |
| Primary users | Aéronautique Militaire |
| Number built | 600 |
| History | |
| Introduction date | 1914 |
| First flight | August 1913 |
TheMorane-Saulnier L, orMorane-Saulnier Type L, or officiallyMoS-3, was a Frenchparasol wing one or two-seat scoutaeroplane of theFirst World War. The Type L became one of the first successfulfighter aircraft when it was fitted with a singlemachine gun that fired through the arc of thepropeller, which was protected byarmoured deflector wedges. Its immediate effectiveness in this role launched anarms race in fighter development, and the Type L was swiftly rendered obsolete. The original Type L usedwing warping for lateral control, but a later version designatedType LA was fitted withailerons.[1]
Built byMorane-Saulnier, large numbers of the Type L were ordered by the FrenchAviation Militaire at the outbreak of the war. In total about 600 Type Ls were built and, in addition to the French air force, they served with theRoyal Flying Corps,Royal Naval Air Service and theImperial Russian Air Service.
The type was also produced under licence in Germany byPfalz Flugzeugwerke as the unarmedA.I andA.II scouts (with 80 HP and 100 HP Oberursel engines respectively).[2] About 60 were built for Bavarian air service. A few were later modified as theE.III fighters.[2] A few Type Ls captured by Germany were fitted with a single GermanSpandau LMG 08 machine gun. These captured and converted aircraft are often mistaken for Pfalz E.IIIs.[3]
About 450 aircraft were licence-built in Russia by Duks and Lebed works.[4]
The Morane-Saulnier L was also built under licence inSweden with some minor improvements as theThulin D.
In December 1914 the famous FrenchaviatorRoland Garros, then serving withEscadrille 23, worked withRaymond Saulnier to create agun synchronizer, using the gas operatedHotchkiss light machine gun. However the firing rate fluctuated too much for the synchronizer to function properly.[5] As an interim measure, they then designed a "safety backup" in the form of braced "deflectors" (metal wedges) fitted to the rear surfaces of the propeller blades at the points where they could be struck by a bullet.[5] Garros took his Type L fighter into combat with the deflectors in March 1915 and achieved immediate success, shooting down threeGerman aircraft in April, a noteworthy feat at the time. The bullets that the French used were not likely to damage the harder steel of the wedges themselves. On 18 April 1915, Garros' deflector-equipped Type L force-landed behind German lines and was captured before he could destroy it.
Three two-seat Morane Type L aircraft were also the first victims of the first German fighter aircraft. LeutnantKurt Wintgens, flying theParabellum machine gun-armedFokker Eindecker M.5K/MG prototypeE.5/15, a copy of theMorane-Saulnier H with a wire-braced welded steel tube fuselage and fitted with the FokkerStangensteuerungsynchronized gun, downed the first on July 1, 1915, followed by two similar victories on July 4 and 15.
About 50 Type Ls were delivered toBritain'sRoyal Flying Corps, which used them as reconnaissance aircraft during 1915,[6] with a further 25 being operated by theRoyal Naval Air Service. On 7 June 1915 one of these aircraft, flown byFlight Sub-LieutenantReginald Alexander John Warneford of1 Squadron RNAS intercepted theDeutsches Heer-flownZeppelinLZ.37, destroying it, the first Zeppelin to be destroyed in the air. Warneford received theVictoria Cross for this achievement.[7]
Cecil Lewis served with the RFC's Squadron Number 3 in 1916 through theSomme offensive. He flew the Type LA "Parasol" (as it was known) operationally, for over three hundred hours and was awarded the Military Cross. Most of that flying was conducted on a single airframe, RFC serial 5133. In his book "Sagittarius Rising" he recalled of the LA:
A Morane-Saulnier "Parasol" was used for the first flight by an airplane across theAndes on April 13, 1918, when the Argentine aviatorLuis Candelaria flew fromZapala, Argentina, toCunco, Chile; the flight lasted 2 hours 30 minutes and reached an altitude of 4,000 meters.[9]
Data fromAeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing.)[10]
General characteristics
Performance
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