The Morane-Saulnier MS.350 was a French aerobatic trainer flown in 1936. Only one was built but it had a long career, flying post-war until the 1960s.

Design

The MS.350 was a two bay biplane with equal span wings. In plan these were straight tapered, with sweep only on the

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

, and with elliptical tips. Only the lower wing had dihedral. Both upper and lower wings were built around two duralumin box- spars, joined together on each side by a single, faired, broad-footed

interplane strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

to a steel cross-link between the spars. There were

ailerons An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

on both upper and lower wings. A pair of outward leaning, N-form cabane struts braced the upper wing centre section high over the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...

. The usual wire bracing completed the wing structure. The trainer was powered by a neatly cowled, Renault 6Pei 6-cylinder inverted air-cooled inline engine. The fuselage was constructed around four duralumin tube longerons with metal skinning from engine to cockpit and fabric covered behind. Its open cockpit was just behind the trailing edge of the upper wing, where there was a semicircular cutout to improve the pilot's upward field of view. Behind his seat there was a storage locker. The horizontal tail was essentially

trapezoidal A quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides is called a trapezoid () in American and Canadian English. In British and other forms of English, it is called a trapezium (). A trapezoid is necessarily a convex quadrilateral in Eucli ...

in plan and included

balanced In telecommunications and professional audio, a balanced line or balanced signal pair is a circuit consisting of two conductors of the same type, both of which have equal impedances along their lengths and equal impedances to ground and to other ci ...

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...

s which had a nick for operation of a balanced rudder. The

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

was trapezoidal in profile and the rudder straight-edged, though with a rounded top. It extended to the keel. The tail surfaces were fabric covered metal structures. The MS.350 had a fixed tailskid undercarriage with a track of . Each mainwheel was mounted on a steel tube leg hinged on the lower fuselage longeron. Together with an

oleo strut An oleo strut is a pneumatic air–oil hydraulic shock absorber used on the landing gear of most large aircraft and many smaller ones. This design cushions the impacts of landing and damps out vertical oscillations. It is undesirable for an airp ...

, each leg was enclosed in a fairing; the wheels also had fairings and were fitted with brakes. The tailskid was steerable.

Development

The MS.350 made its first flight on 8 February 1936, piloted by Michel Détroyat, who was a well known aerobatic pilot. He demonstrated it in public on 17 May at a meeting in Saint-Germain,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Its development was protracted, lasting until October 1937. At some early stage the original engine was replaced by a

Renault 6Q The Renault 6Q, also called the Renault Bengali 6, is an air-cooled six-cylinder, inverted piston engine, producing about continuous power. It was designed and built in France and produced for more than ten years after its homologation in 19 ...

, a rather similar 6-cylinder inverted air-cooled inline engine producing .

Operational history

Détroyat's outstanding aerobatic displays across pre-war Europe made the MS.350 well known. It survived the war and was registered as ''F-BDYL'' in 1954 in the name of Jean Cliquet, Morane-Saulnier's chief test pilot, and based at

Ossun Ossun (; oc, Aussun) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. Ossun station has rail connections to Bayonne, Bordeaux, Tarbes and Pau. Population See also *Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department ...

. From 1956 it was owned by Morane-Saulnier and flew from their base at Villacoubly until it was wrecked in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on 8 December 1964.

Specifications

Design

Development

Operational history

Specifications

References

Bibliography

Further reading