Morane-Saulnier H

Type H
300px
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 a sport aircraft produced in France in the years before the First World War, a single-seat derivative of the successful Morane-Saulnier G with a slightly reduced wingspan Like the Type G, it was a successful sporting and racing aircraft.

Operational history

During the second international aero meet, held at Wiener Neustadt in June 1913, Roland Garros won the precision landing prize in a Type H. 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.

The French Army ordered a batch of 26 aircraft, and the British Royal Flying Corps also acquired a small number, these latter machines purchased from Grahame-White, who was manufacturing the type in the UK under licence. The French machines saw limited service in the opening stages of World War I, with pilots engaging in aerial combat using revolvers and carbines.

The type was also produced under licence in Germany by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke, who built it as the E.I, E.II, E.IV, E.V, and E.VI, with increasingly powerful engines. These were armed with a single, synchronised lMG 08 machine gun.

Another slightly longer German-built copy featured a steel-framed fuselage, a redesigned undercarriage integrated with the under-wing bracing pylons and a comma shaped rudder. It entered production as the Fokker M.5 and when armed in 1915 with a synchronised machine gun became first of the Fokker "Eindecker" monoplane fighters.

Survivors

A Type H is preserved at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace in Le Bourget.

Variants

Morane-Saulnier versions

• MoS.1 H (single seater)
• MoS.2 G (two seater)
• MoS.3 L (parasol monoplane)
• MoS.13 M (armoured single seater)

Pfalz versions

• E.I - with Oberursel U.0 rotary engine (45 built)
• E.II - with Oberursel U.I rotary engine (130 built)
• E.IV - with Oberursel U.III rotary engine (46 built)
• E.V - with Mercedes D.I water-cooled, inline engine (20 built)
• E.VI - with Oberursel U.I engine, lengthened fuselage, enlarged tail fin and reduced bracing (20 built as trainers)

Operators

File:Morane-Saulnier H with RFC number on rudder.jpg

Morane-Saulnier H with RFC number on rudder

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)
• Range: 177 km (111 miles)
• Service ceiling: 1,000 m (3,280 ft)