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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0045.PDF
JANUARY 25, 1923 By THE TECHNICAL EDITOR (Continued from page 33) MORANE-SAULNIER, Puteaux (Seine)THE name of Morane is one of the oldest in French aviation, having from time to time been associated with gthers, suchas Morane-Borel, Morane-Saulnier, as well as standing by itself in indicating early aeroplanes. We have forgottenwhen the two names of Morane and Saulnier were first coupled together, but at any rate it was before the War, andprobably round about 1913. During the years that have gone the combination has endured, and the name Morane-Saulnier was found on a very large percentage of the French machines used during the War. Not only so, but even inthis country, where the Grahame-White firm had the concession, a large number of MS's were turned out, and itis not without interest to note that the Zeppelin brought down by Warneford, the first to be " sunk " by an aeroplane,was bombed by a Morane-Saulnier monoplane. Perhaps the type of MS. which did most work was the parasol, and henceit is not surprising that the type has endured to the present day with but few modifications. At the recent Paris AeroShow one of these machines was shown, but as this was of usual type it does not require any description here, havingbeen illustrated and described at length on more than one occasion in FLIGHT. It is somewhat curious, and probablysignificant, that the semi-cantilever monoplane shown at port, and who wish to save time by being flown to Parisor to some other centre. It was realised that such passengers would demand a fair amount of comfort, would require amachine of reasonably high speed, but that, as the number of passengers who could be counted upon would be relativelysmall, no very large machine would be wanted. The result of these considerations is the MS. type " A.V.,"which is a four-seater, with ccmduite interieure, the pilot occupying one of the four seats inside the cabin. It mighthave been thought that from here his view would be somewhat restricted, but on entering the cabin and sitting down in thepilot's seat, which is the front one on the port side, it was found that, as a matter of fact, the view is particularly good,owing to the large windows and low position of the engine in relation to the height of the cabin. All the seats for thethree passengers and that for the pilot are extremely com- fortable, and although the presence of the wing above thecabin darkens the latter to a certain extent, it is imagined that outside, in broad daylight, the cabin is very welllighted. One of our sketches shows the front portion of the cabin.The pilot, as already mentioned, sits in the front seat on the port side, and in front of him is a comfortably-sloped andextremely well-lighted instrument-board, any instrument on The Morane-Saulnier Cabin Machine : Known as the type A.V., this canti- lever monoplane is fitted with a detachable engine unit, in which all engine controls and engine instru- ments form part of, and are removed with, the unit. In the background may be seen such a unit, mounted on a sectioned portion of a fuselage. the previous Paris Show does not appear to have left anytraces on MS. developments, except in so far as the commercial machine shown can be said to be influenced by it, which isto an infinitesimal extent only. The Moraine-Saulnier cabin machine, type A.V. is not,as some visitors to the Paris exhibition appeared to imagine, intended as a commercial machine in the sense of the wordthat it is for regular use on any airway. For that purpose, its carrying capacity is too small. Rather is it to be regardedas an owner-pilot's machine or a taxi-'plane. Thus one method of using the machine contemplated by the makers isfor meeting passengers who arrive from abroad at some which can be read with a minimum of effort. The compassis placed in front of the seat, on a tall cylindrical box, near the base of •which, concentric with it, is the foot bar for therudder. The foot rests are adjustable so as to suit different pilots. The air-speed indicator is immediately in front ofthe pilot, where it can be read without difficulty ; in fact, the necessary movement of the eyes from looking out overthe engine to reading the air-speed indicator is so small that the pilot should be able to watch the machine and the speedalmost simultaneously. That this is a necessity in a machine of this type will be realised when it is remembered that, asthe pilot is in the cabin, there is no wind to warn him of a 45 . c 2
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