The Morane-Saulnier L was a French parasol one or two-seater that was used as a scout and even as a fighter. In South America it was used by the next countries:
- Argentina: The Morane-Saulnier L nicknamed "Mendoza" made history there as it was the first airplane to cross the Andean mountains by taking off from Neuquen, in Argentina and landing in Cunco, Chile on 13th April 1918. The airplane was part of the flying school of the Argentinean Aviación Militar (Military Aviation) that served from 1915 until 1923.
- Brazil: The Brazilian Army's Serviço de Aviaçao Naval adquired at least one armed Morane-Saulnier L in 1916. However we couldn't find more information about its usage and fate.
- Bolivia: Somehow Bolivian Cuerpo de Aviación got a type L, however as we couldn't find neither graphical nor text evidence of it, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
- Peru: Peru was another user of the type L. Most probably it was adquired during late World War I when the type L was already outdated and it served with the Peruvian Aviación Militar. However, as we couldn't find graphical or text evidence about it, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_L
2. https://aerospotter.blogspot.com.es/2014/04/el-morane-saulnier-l-parasol-y-el.html (translated)
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
In 1919 Bolivia has no military airplanes yet, the first official flight take place in La Paz in a Curtiss Wasp triplane april 17 of 1920, that plane crash in Sica Sica when was returning from Oruro the same year, the pilot was Lt. Donald Houdson,the next year the aviation military school get two Spads donated by Simon Patiño, sadly april 3 of 1921, the trainer version crashed over the espectators killing 8 and the two ocupants, this plane was piloted by Maurice Bourdon. At november of 1921 arrives the first civilian pilot flying his machine in Uyuni, the plane was a FIAT R.2, piloted by Juan Mendoza y Nernuldes, the Morane Saulnier that arrives to Bolivia were the MS.35 ep2, four of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. Could you quote your sources please? We found that the Bolivian Air Corps operated four Morane-Saulnier type L. Maybe it was 1920 onwards and not in 1919.
Deletehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B087CCDF7V, the history of Curtiss 18T Wasp, that ends in Bolivia. The 4 MS-35 ep2 arrives to Bolivia at ends of 1923, to instaurate the Escuela Militar de Aviación in the thrith attemp, the source are the Bolivian newspapers: El Diario; La República; La Reforma, from 1923 to 1924.
ReplyDeleteThanks! We still haven't drawn the Curtiss 18T but when we do it, we'll take this into account.
ReplyDelete