Morane-Saulnier Ms.406 & Mörkö Morane

 

As we've said in previous posts, France sent 30 Morane-Saulnier to Finland between the 4th and the 29th February 1940 and, by 1943, the Finns received an additional 46 Ms.406 and 11 Ms.410 (an improved version of the Ms.406 which will be also the subject of a future post) bought from the Germans. By that year, however, the Ms.406 was showing signs of being seriously outdated. Anyway, as the Finns were desperate for serviceable aircraft, they decided to start a modification program to bring all their serviceable aircraft to new standards.

The Finnish aircraft engineer Aarne Lakomaa turned the Ms.406 into a competent frontline fighter, the Mörkö (Suomi word for "Bogeyman" or "Bugbear"), sometimes known as the LaGG-Morane. It was powered by captured Klimov M-105P engines (which were themselves a licensed copy of the Hispano-Suiza 12Y) which yielded 1.100 hp of power driving a fully adjustable propeller. In order to fit the engine, the airframe required some strengthening and a more aerodynamic engine cowling had to be fitted too. Thanks to those changes, the speed was boosted to 525 km/h (326 mph). Some additional changes included a new oil cooler, taken from the Messerschmitt Bf.109G, the usage of four belt-fed guns, system which was already present at the Ms.410, and a single 20 mm MG 151/20 in the engine mounting firing through the propeller hub. However, as the MG 151/20 was in short supply in Finland, some Mörkös were fitted with the captured 12.7 mm Berezin UBS guns.

Conversion work started in August 1942 and the first Mörkö flew for the first time on 25th January 1943 with very good results as the fighter was 64 km/h (40 mph) faster than the original French Ms.406 and the service ceiling was increased in 2.000 m, from 10.000m (33.000 ft) to 12.000m (39.000 ft).

Initial plans included the conversion of all the 41 remaining Ms.406 and Ms.410 to the Soviet engine, but the process took time and it wasn't until July/August 1944 that the first exemplars of the Mörkö were assigned to the Lentolaivue (Suomi word for "Squadron") 28. By September 1944, with the end of the Continuation War, only three machines, including the original prototype, had been converted. Lieutenant Lars Hattinen (Finnish ace with six victories) scored three kills flying the Mörkö-Morane, one with each Mörkö-Morane in the squadron. Anyway, more fighters were converted and the Mörkö-Morane took part in the Lapland War in the reconnaissance and ground-attack role. Not every Mörkö conversion was completed before March 1945, when the whole re-engine program was halted. At the end of the World War 2, the total number of converted Mörkö-Moranes was 41, which were used as advanced trainers with the TLeLv 14 until September 1948, when they were retired from service and, in 1952 they were all scrapped.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_M.S.406#Finnish_variants

2. https://www.valka.cz/Valtion-Lentokonetehdas-Moerkoe-Morane-t29432

3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters