As it was more developed, it required more work than the previous type N or the type I, which was developed in parallel to this one. In fact, it had bigger wingspan and had modified elevators with a bigger area. It had also bigger fuel tanks, which gave the fuselage a deeper front.
The first aircraft was presented on 16th May 1916 at No.1 Air Depot, near Guillaux, in France, although unarmed. Later, by 8th July, they were armed and with their engines fitted and were delivered to the Royal Flying Corps in that same month.
With the Royal Flying Corps, one of them served with the No.3 Squadron for a few days, but after that, only the No.60 Squadron was the only RFC unit to use the type, receiving at least 7 of the 12 delivered. Of those, three were written off as they crashed while landing and another one was destroyed in combat on 19th September 1916. It wasn't very popular among the pilots of the No.60 Squadron as the more powerful and heavier engine, made the aircraft harder to control . By early August, the squadron had to be withdrawn from the frontlines, in order to be fitted with new and better aircrafts. However, when the squadron received the Nieuport 16, some few Morane-Saulnier V, were still in active until they were definitely withdrawn from service on 11th October 1916.
This didn't end Morane-Saulnier N family, as the type V was the basis for the experimental type U version which eventually evolved into the type AC.
Some of them were also sold to the Imperial Russian Air Service in 1917, where they were kept into service until the revolutions of that same year when they were adquired by the Bolshevik Red Air Fleet and served, without known results, during the Russian Civil War.
Sources:
1. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_Type_V.html
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_V
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
No comments:
Post a Comment