Morane-Saulnier Type H

The Morane-Saulnier H was an early aircraft first flown in France in the months immediately preceding the First World War; it was a single-seat derivative of the successful Morane-Saulnier G with a slightly reduced wingspanTaylor 1989, p.648"The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft", p.2539 Like the Type G, it was a successful sporting and racing aircraft: examples serving with the French army were used in the opening phases of the war.

German versions, the Fokker Eindecker fighters, were armed with forward-firing machine guns and became the first single-seat fighter aircraft so armed.

Service use

During the second international aero meet, held at Wiener Neustadt in June 1913, Roland Garros won the precision landing prize in a Type H.Hartmann 2001, p. 11 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 under the designation MoS.1. French-built machines saw limited service in the opening stages of World War I, with pilots carrying out reconnaissance missions and occasionally engaging in aerial combat using revolvers and carbines. The British Royal Flying Corps also acquired a small number, impressing three civilian-owned aircraft on the outbreak of the war, and ordering 36 machines Grahame-White, who was manufacturing the type in the UK under licence in two batches. The RFC mainly used the its Type Hs for training, with only one example seeing service with operational squadrons ( 4 and 12 Squadrons).

German copies

A German-built copy entered production as the Fokker M.5 in 1913: it featured a slightly longer fuselage, framed in steel tube rather than wood, a comma shaped rudder, and a redesigned undercarriage integrated with the under-wing bracing pylons. When armed in 1915 with a synchronised machine gun it became the first of the Fokker "Eindecker" monoplane fighters.Brannon (1996), pp.7-9

The type was also produced under licence in Germany by the Pfalz Flugzeugwerke: during the war the company built armed versions as the E.I, E.II, E.IV, E.V, and E.VI, with increasingly powerful engines. Like the better known Fokkers, with which they were often confused by Allied airmen, these were armed with a single, synchronised lMG 08 machine gun.''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'', p.2698Grosz 1996

Survivors

A Type H is preserved at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace in Le Bourget and another at the Fantasy of Flight in Florida. Several replicas are in museums or flying.

Variants

Morane-Saulnier versions

* Type G two seater
* Type H single seater
* Type L parasol monoplane
* Type M armoured single seater
* Type O racing monoplane developed from H, two built including one for Roland Garros that was fitted with wheels and floats

* MoS.1 Official designation for Type H
* MoS.2 Official designation for Type G
* MoS.3 Official designation for Type L
* MoS.13 Official designation for Type M

Pfalz versions

* E.I - with Oberursel U.0 rotary engine (45 built)Herris 2001, p.10
* E.II - with Oberursel U.I rotary engine (130 built)Herris 2001, p.16
* E.IV - with Oberursel U.III rotary engine (46 built)Herris 2001, p.21
* E.V - with Mercedes D.I water-cooled, inline engine (20 built)Herris 2001, p.24
* E.VI - with Oberursel U.I engine, lengthened fuselage, enlarged tail fin and reduced bracing (20 built as trainers)Herris 2001, p.25Grosz 1996, p.27

Operators

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* ''Aéronautique Militaire''
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* Austro-Hungarian Navy - (Pfalz-built versions)
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* Belgian Air Force
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* Army Flying Service - 2 examples.
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* ''Luftstreitkräfte'' - (Pfalz-built versions)
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* Portuguese Air Force - one aircraft.
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* Royal Flying Corps
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* Imperial Russian Air Service
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* Swiss Air Force - two aircraft

Specifications

References

Bibliography

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Further reading

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{{Idflieg E-class designations

1910s French sport aircraft
H
1910s French military trainer aircraft
1910s French military reconnaissance aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1913
Rotary-engined aircraft
Mid-wing aircraft