Morane-Saulnier BB

Leon Morane formed an aircraft company with fellow Frenchmen Gabriel Borel and Raymond Saulnier in 1910. Borel left the company to set up on his own in October, and the other two partners set up the Societe Anonyme des Aeroplanes Morane-Saulnier. Saulnier had worked with Bleriot on the famous cross-channel Type Onze (XI), and began designing a series of monoplanes.

The Type G two-seater and Type H single-seaters went in to production in 1913, and soon established themselves as the monoplanes of choice for racing pilots. The Type H design was be developed by Pfalz in to the E1 fighter, and influence the Fokker Eindecker. Morane-Saulnier produced their own Type N monoplane fighter.

The Type G was ordered by the Aviation Militaire, and Claude Grahame White secured a licence to build them at Hendon. The problem with monoplane designs, such as the Type G, was its limited downward view because of the position of the wing. As the primary military use of aircraft was scouting and other reconnaissance, his made the Type G of limited use. The solution, used also by Bleriot, was to produce a parasol variant and so remove the wing from the downward line of sight of the crew.

The Morane-Saulnier Type L parasol achieved some notable service, especially when fitted with a forward firing machine gun for Roland Garros and as the mount of Rex Warneford when he won a Victoria Cross for destroying a German airship. Also, it was built under licence by Pfalz.

Given the success of the Morane parasols, and the continuing development of the monoplanes, it may seem strange that in the summer of 1915 the company decided to design a conventional biplane to meet a French specification for a two-seater reconnaissance aeroplane.

The Aviation Militaire tested the 80 h.p. Le Rhone powered prototype in 1915, under the designation STA MoS.7, but expressed no interest in placing a production order. The response from both the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service was different, possibly because the British aircraft industry was still expanding to meet increased demand. Major DS Lewis DSO, then commanding 3 Squadron RFC equipped with Morane Parasols, was given the opportunity to fly in a BB and gave it a good report. Although it seems likely that Lewis flew in the prototype his report, dated 2 August, 1915, indicates that Morane was considering improving the BB design. The prototype was fitted with wing warping, yet Lewis mentioned specifically that he felt that the BB would be easier to fly when ailerons were fitted. Production aircraft were to be fitted with the 110 h.p. Le Rhone 9J, thus further increasing performance over the 80 h.p. powered Morane Parasols.

Meanwhile ‘3683’ was supplied to 4 Squadron RNAS at Dunkerque on 1 October for evaluation. This aircraft had a developed fuselage design, yet retained wing warping.

The first RFC example (587) appears to have been test flown for Captain Lord Robert Innes-Ker, of the BASD, on 3 November prior to being delivered to St Omer the next day. This was fitted with the 110 hp engine, and Morane himself impressed Innes-Ker on how good the performance of the BB was. Innes-Ker seemed to have concurred as an order for 92 was placed, for delivery in late 1915.

The RFC sought to modify the BB in a number of ways to make it more suitable for operational requirements. The starboard fuselage side fairing was enlarged to house a wireless and a camera mounting was fitted outside the fuselage. A vertical tube gun mounting was fitted behind the cockpit for use by the observer. In service, provision was made for a second Lewis gun to be fitted on the top wing for use by the pilot. It seems that these modifications were made by the RFC at St Omer on the first aircraft which was then flown back to Paris for Morane-Saulnier to use as a pattern aircraft. Morane and Saulnier visited St Omer on 25 November to view the modifications. Possibly as a result of this visit, by 20 February, 1916, it had been decided to fit the wireless and accumulator behind the observer’s seat. Wider ailerons were requested to improve lateral control, but Morane insisted that the tapered design fitted had been chosen as larger ailerons made the aircraft difficult to fly in rough weather. RFC HQ concurred with this view on 16 February, though Morane continued to experiment with revised designs. At least five designs were tried before longer ailerons were suggested, and a modified MS578 was sent to 3 Squadron in July for inconclusive trials. Brigadier General Brooke-Popham suggested fairing strips be fitted over the aileron hinge gaps instead. This seemed to work, and on 24 August, Brooke-Popham instructed Aircraft Depots to fit this modification to all Morane parasols and BBs.

With all the modifications, and the ongoing issue of ailerons design, it was not surprising that Morane could commit to the delivery of no more than 26 aircraft by the 31 March, 1915, deadline. The first two had arrived by 9 November, but there were then problems with the engines as Le Rhone announced its intention to stop production of the 110 h.p. Major- General Trenchard, aware of these potential difficulties, instructed Innes-Ker to reduce the order to 36 aircraft on 6 January, 1916, yet 46 were requested for delivery by 31 March, on the following day. Morane delivered only 26 aircraft on time. 36 more aircraft were ordered for delivery by the end of June, and later revised to 24, and 24 more by the end of September.    

On 29 January, 1916, it was decided that 1 & 3 Squadrons should each have a flight of four BBs, these to be phased in as they became available and as Morane parasols were struck off charge. In 1,3 and 60 Squadrons the BBs were allocated to B Flight. Despite slow delivery, 3 & 60 Squadrons are known to have had their full complement of BBs on 1 July 1916, whereas 1 Squadron had five. 12 Squadron operated the type also. It was used for Artillery Observation, Contact Patrol and photography work.

Duncan Bell-Irving, 60 Squadron, working with his brother Mick, a pilot with 1 Squadron, compiled a list of notes for operating the 110 h.p. Le Rhone efficiently. Bell-Irving developed a new sight for the forward firing Lewis gun on his BB which he demonstrated against a ground target. Major Waldron, 60 Squadron commanding officer, was sufficiently impressed to order similar sights to be fitted to the Squadron’s other BBs.

The single RNAS example,3683, served later with 5 Wing at Coudekerque. Non-operational use of the type was made by the No 1 Aircraft Depot Pilot’s School at St Omer, and at the Central Flying School for training. Cecil Lewis recalled a BB being at St Omer, along with other aircraft retained for familiarisation flying by pilots pending posting to squadrons. It was at St Omer that a captured Fokker Eindecker was flown in trials against a Morane N and a BB, both of which Lewis regarded as having superior performance. Only the BE 2c performed worse, though Lewis implied that this may have had something to do with the fact that he was flying it !

Deliveries were made weekly and ceased on 14 October, with the delivery of six aircraft, randomly numbered MS816, MS818, MS849, MS852, MS853 and MS854.

These did not go in to service, and their 110 h.p. engines were returned to Morane for installation in Type P Parasols. The airframes, with serials A299-A304, were sent via No 1 Aircraft Depot to England. The fuselage frame of A301 still survives, in the reserve collection of the RAF Museum at Stafford.

5104, 5126, 5130, 5137, 5142, 5149, 5156, 5157, 5158, 5159, 5160, 5161, 5162, 5163, 5164, 5165, 5166, 5167, 5168, 5169, 5170, 5171, 5172, 5173, 5174, 5175, 5176, 5177, 5181, 5182, 5183, 5184, 5185, 5192, 5193, 5200, A119, A132, A137, A138, A139, A147, A149, A150, A151, A155, A161, A163, A183, A189, A190, A191, A195, A217, A218, A220, A222, A226, A227, A230, A231, A232, A233, A242, A243, A244, A251, A256, A257, A282, A283, A284, A286, A287, A288, A289, A290, A293, A294, A295, A296, A299, A300, A301, A302, A303, A304

Other customers for the Type BB were the Russians and the Spanish. The Russians built a single example under licence at Dux in 1917, supposedly armed with two synchronized Vickers machine guns. The Compania Espanola Construcciones Aeronauticas acquired a licence in 1915 to build the BB. These were powered by 150 h.p. Hispano-Suiza 8A engines, with radiators mounted on the fuselage sides. The prototype first flew, at Albericia, in January 1916. Twelve production aircraft were ordered for the Aeronautica Militaire but they proved difficult to operate and were placed in storage in 1918. A development aircraft was produced in 1918 but was not ordered.

“This Morane biplane was engine with a 110 h.p. Le Rhone. The wings, which were of the deeply cambered Morane type, had no dihedral, and the machine was very ugly to look at, but for those days it had a very good turn of speed and climb.”

James McCudden

“Number Three Squadron on the Somme was equipped with two flights of Morane Parasols and one flight of Biplanes. While the Biplane was unmistakably from the same stable as the Parasol, in a curious way the design had not come off. The Biplane had a 110 h.p. Le Rhone engine – not so sweet as the 80 h.p. engines in the Parasols which ran like sewing machines – and out admiration f the Biplane as chiefly because it was, for those days, quite fast. It flew at 95 m.p.h., which was 10 m.p.h. faster than the Parasol.”

“Both in the air and on the ground this aeroplane had a somewhat waspish appearance. It looked dangerous and short-tempered and, though I cannot support this with any figures, I have a feeling that the extra speed made it pretty well invulnerable to enemy attack in the air. I do not remember any casualties in the Biplane flight. The aircraft had the same undercarriage and the same extraordinary tail as the Parasol. For artillery observation it was less satisfactory than the Parasol because the lower wings which inevitably impeded the pilot’s downward view.”

Cecil Lewis.

“It was draughty and cold to sit in, but was light on the controls and ad a reasonable good performance. This machine was also a two-seater, like the parasol, with the observer’s seat behind the pilot’s”

AJL Scott

Span : 8.585m
length : 6.935 m (at 3,050 m) : 134 km/h

Climb to 1,980 m : 13 minutes

Climb to 3,050 m : 26 minutes 48 seconds

Service Ceiling : 3,660 m

Height : 2.165 m

Wing Area : 22.32 square metres

Weight : 491kg (empty), 761 kg (loaded)

Maximum Speed (3,050 m) : 134 km/h

Sources :

Farewell to Wings, Cecil Lewis

Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing), JM Bruce

Under the Guns of The German Aces, Norman Frank & Hal Giblin

Number One in War and Peace : The History of No 1 Squadron 1912-2000, Norman Franks & Mike O’Connor

Sagittarius Rising, Cecil Lewis

French Aircraft of the First World War, James J Davilla & Arthur M Soltan

60 Squadron, RAF, 1916-1919, AJL Scott

Gentleman Air Ace : The Duncan Bell Irving Story, Elizabeth O’Kiely

Five Years in the RFC, James McCudden

Canadian Roderick Ward Maclennan flew a BB at CFS in October 1917 : “I seem to have finished with my beloved Avros and am flying a Morane biplane. It is not so steady as an Avro and it will not fly alone. We fly them to perfect ourselves in making landings, as the Morane’s probably the hardest machine to land properly. I have been flying them a week now and seem to have done pretty well. I broke an axle in landing on Thursday but that was a mere nothing. Aside from the difficult landing, they are beautiful machines to fly and they have a lovely engine. They are small and in the air resemble a fish more than a bird. Yesterday I was up in one for an hour and 30 minutes and during my wanderings about the country went down over Salisbury and from a height of about a mile, viewed the old town and its huge cathedral, set in a beautiful green garden.”

The Ideals and Training of a Flying Officer

The Hugh Anselm Boulter Robb, MC, article by Donald R Neate, Cross & Cockade Great Britain Journal, Volume 10, Number 4, 1979, list a number of A Flight, 3 Squadron, Morane Parasols which are, in fact, BBs; as noted above. 

Nick,

You probably all ready looked there but here are two photos in C&C  Vol.13, Vol.20.

Morane BB  #3683 crashed photo C&C 13.118

Morane BB  photo C&C 20.067

For it’s worth, Derek

I have a reference to Morane-Saulnier BB '3683' (the only one oeprated by the RNAS) being flown by a 'Captain Allardyce'.