The Airdrome Morane Saulnier L is an American

amateur-built aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

, designed and produced by

Airdrome Aeroplanes Airdrome Aeroplanes is an American aircraft manufacturer, founded by Robert Baslee, that offers a large selection of kit aircraft for amateur construction. The company is based in Holden, Missouri.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's ...

, of

Holden, Missouri Holden is a city in western Johnson County, Missouri, Johnson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,252 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Holden was laid out in 1857. It was named for Major Nathaniel Holden, a ...

. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 40. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851 The aircraft is a 3/4 scale replica 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 ...

French

Morane-Saulnier 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 si ...

fighter, first flown by French aviator Roland Garros to shoot down an enemy aircraft with a forward-firing machine gun in March 1915. The replica is built from modern materials and powered by modern engines.

Design and development

The Airdrome Morane Saulnier L features a

parasol wing 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 confi ...

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 confi ...

layout, a single-seat open cockpit, fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher c ...

. The aircraft is made from bolted-together

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

tubing, with its flying surfaces covered in doped

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

. The kit is made up of twelve sub-kits. The Airdrome Morane Saulnier L has a wingspan of and a wing area of . It can be equipped with engines ranging from . The standard engine used is the Valley Engineering Big Twin

four stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...

engine. Building time from the factory-supplied kit is estimated at 300 hours by the manufacturer.

Operational history

Two examples had been completed by December 2011.

Specifications (Morane Saulnier L)

References

{{Airdrome Aeroplanes Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft