The Morane-Saulnier N, also known as the Morane-Saulnier Type N, was a French

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

fighter aircraft of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Designed and manufactured by

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

, the Type N entered service in April

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". * January ...

with the ''Aéronautique Militaire'' designated as the MoS-5 C1. It also equipped four squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps, in which it was nicknamed the Bullet, and was operated in limited numbers by the 19th Squadron of the

Imperial Russian Air Force The Imperial Russian Air Service (russian: Императорскій военно-воздушный флотъ, , Emperor's Military Air Fleet) was an air force founded in 1912 for Imperial Russia."''12 августа 1912 года прика ...

Description

While the Type N was a clean, streamlined aircraft, it was not easy to fly due to a combination of stiff lateral control caused by using

wing warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposite direc ...

instead of ailerons, sensitive pitch and yaw controls caused by using an all flying tail, and very high landing speed for the period. The Type N mounted a single unsynchronized forward-firing 7.9 mm Hotchkiss machine gun which used the deflector wedges first used on the

Morane-Saulnier Type L The Morane-Saulnier L, or Morane-Saulnier Type L, or officially MoS-3, was a French parasol wing one or two-seat scout aeroplane of the First World War. The Type L became one of the first successful fighter aircraft when it was fitted with a s ...

, in order to fire through the propeller arc. The later I and V types used a

.303 .303 may refer to: * .303 British, a rifle cartridge * .303 Savage, a rifle cartridge * Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the B ...

-in

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more men to move and o ...

. A large metal "casserolle" spinner, appearing much like those used on the

Deperdussin Monocoque The Deperdussin Monocoque was an early racing aircraft built in 1912 by the Aéroplanes Deperdussin, a French aircraft manufacturer started in 1911 and reorganized as the Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés ( SPAD) in 1913. It is so nam ...

pre-war racer of 1912, was designed to streamline the aircraft; but caused the engines to overheat. In 1915, the spinners were removed and the overheating problems disappeared with little loss in performance. 49 aircraft were built but it was quickly rendered obsolete by the pace of aircraft development.

Variants

;Morane-Saulnier Type N :Single-seat fighter-scout monoplane. ;Morane-Saulnier Type Nm :The Type Nm had a modified tail unit. Built in small numbers. ;

Morane-Saulnier I The Morane-Saulnier I, also known as the Morane-Saulnier Type I was a French fighter of the 1910s. Essentially a modified Morane-Saulnier N, the Royal Flying Corps possessed a number of them in World War I. Development Largely on the advice of ...

:more powerful version with 110 Le Rhône 9J. ; Morane-Saulnier V :Longer range version of I.

Operators

; * '' Aeronautique Militaire'' ; *

;

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...

Ukrainian People's Republic Air Fleet The Air Fleet of the UPR was the air force of the Ukrainian People's Republic in 1917–1921. Aircraft Fighters * Morane-Saulnier Type Nm (3) * Sikorsky S-16 * Nieuport 11 C.1 ''Bebe'' *Nieuport 17 (3) *Nieuport 21 (2) *Nieuport 23 (7) *Nieupo ...

- Three aircraft. ; * Royal Flying Corps ** No. 4 Squadron RFC ** No. 60 Squadron RFC

Specifications (Type N)

References

Bibliography

* *Bruce, J.M. ''War Planes of the First World War: Fighters: Volume Five''. London: Macdonald, 1972. . *Bruce, Jack. "The Bullets and the Guns". ''

Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' maga ...