Morane-Saulnier Ms.475/Ms.477 and Ms.479

 

The Morane-Saulnier Ms.475 was French two-seat trainer aircraft which was the last production version of the Ms.470 saga. It was in use from the early 1950s until the 1960s as Armée de l'Air's (French Air Force) main trainer.

Its roots can be traced back to the Ms.470 which was designed during the war, and, at the postwar, it was ordered into production as the Ms.472 which was itself a more refined version of the Ms.470.

The Ms.472 was refined as well and work on an improved version was shortly later on its way. In fact, the prototype of the Ms.475 'Vanneau V' (Vanneau being the French word for 'plover' - the bird) flew for the first time on 8th August 1947. This new variant was powered by a single Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 inline engine which yielded 850 hp of power (though according to some other sources, the power output was rated at 922 hp) instead of the Gnome-Rhône of the Ms.472. The Ms.475 had also a revised and improved wing, together with some minor improvements. It was also armed with a pair of 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine guns placed in the wings. It had also underwing racks for either small bombs or underwing rockets. 

It was manned by a crew of two, trainee and instructor, which seated in a tandem position under a glazed cockpit.

These changes made the Ms.475 faster and more maneuverable than the preceding Ms.472 and Ms.474 (though the Aéronavale - French Navy's Air Arm - never used the Ms.475).

A total of 200 production Ms.475 were manufactured by Morane-Saulnier at Puteaux, from 1947 onwards, though deliveries to the Armée de l'Air began in March 1950. 

They were employed as basic trainers, but also as light support airplanes in Algeria until 1957 when the North American T-6 Texan was suited as more suitable for that role and therefore, they were replaced. In the trainer role it served well until the 1960s. It was also the basis for a somewhat improved variant, the Ms.476, which had bigger expanded wing, but apparently, the results were not satisfactory and work on it was abandoned.

The Morane-Saulnier Ms.477 was another experimental variant of the Ms.475 which was powered by a single Renault 12S-02 light inline engine which yielded 580 hp of power. This engine was a French copy of the German Argus As.411. It flew for the first time in November 1950 (though some French sources claim it was on 28th December 1951). With a single machine built, it was deemed as seriously underpowered and therefore, work on it was abandoned. 

The Morane-Saulnier Ms.479 was a variant coming straight from the previous version, the Ms.472. It was basically a Ms.472 powered by a single SNECMA 14X-04 'Super Mars' radial engine rated at 820 hp of power. It flew for the first time on 4th March 1952 and was tested all along that month, but the project was soon cancelled.

There were also some projected never-built variants like the Ms.471 which was going to be a Ms.470 powered by a Béarn 12B engine or the Ms.478 which was going to be a Ms.472 but powered by an Italian Isotta Fraschini Delta inline engine, but none of them went beyond the drawing board.

Sources:

1. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS475_vanneauV.html

2. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS476_vanneau.html

3. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS477_vanneau.html

4. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS479_vanneau.html

5. https://www.armedconflicts.com/Morane-Saulnier-MS-475-Vanneau-V-t167690

6. http://all-aero.com/index.php/contactus/53-planes-l-m-n-o/7034-morane-saulnier-ms470-vanneau--ms472--ms474--ms475

7. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_Vanneau (translated)

8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_Vanneau

9. https://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=914&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=931&ANNEE=0&ID_MISSION=0&MOTCLEF=

10. https://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9754&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=931&ANNEE=0&ID_MISSION=0&MOTCLEF=

11. https://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=913&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=931&ANNEE=0&ID_MISSION=0&MOTCLEF=

Morane-Saulnier Ms.472 'Vanneau II'

 

The Morane-Saulnier Ms.472 'Vanneau II' (French word for 'Plover' - the bird) was the first production version of the Ms.470. It was a two-seat trainer used by the Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) from 1946 until the 1960s.

The Ms.472 was itself a developed version of the Ms.470 which was designed by Paul-René Gauthier during the German occupation. The Ms.470 pleased the newly re-established Armée de l'Air so much that they decided to adopt it as their standard two-seat trainer, under the condition of making some revisions. Such revisions were carried out and three prototypes were ordered, the first of which flew for the first time on 12th December 1945. A total of 230 production aircraft were manufactured by Morane-Saulnier at their factory in Puteaux, close to Paris. 

The Ms.472 was identical in many aspects to the Ms.470. However it had a slightly different fuselage section with horizontal stabilizers moved upwards and it was powered by a single Gnome-Rhône 14M 05 radial engine which yielded 690 hp of power at take off (though, according to some sources, the engine was rated at 700 hp). It was made out of metal and both crew members, trainee and instructor sitting in tandem under a long-glazed canopy and was armed with two 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine guns placed in the wings. It could also carry small bombs or rockets under the wings, if it was equipped with racks. 

It was introduced and delivered to the Armée de l'Air in December 1946 and they were employed in the light ground support role during the Algerian War of Independence until 1957 when they were replaced by the North-American T-6 Texan. 

The success of the Ms.472 attracted attention of the French Navy and, therefore a carrier borne variant was also developed for the Aéronavale (French Navy's air arm). This version, called Ms.474 'Vanneau IV' was identical to the Ms.472 but was equipped with an arrestor hook at the tail, which was often removed when operated from shore bases, and some minor modifications, like external chords. This variant flew for the first time on 27th February 1947, was powered by the same engine the Ms.472 was and was also armed with two MAC 1934 on the wings. A total of 70 machines were manufactured at Puteaux and, just like the Ms.472 it remained in service until the 1960s when they were replaced by other types.

Sources:

1. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS472_vanneauII.html

2. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS474_vanneauIV.html

3. https://www.valka.cz/Morane-Saulnier-MS-472-Vanneau-II-t167686

4. https://www.valka.cz/Morane-Saulnier-MS-474-Vanneau-IV-t167688

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_Vanneau

6. https://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=911&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=931&ANNEE=0&ID_MISSION=0&MOTCLEF= (translated)

7. https://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=912&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=931&ANNEE=0&ID_MISSION=0&MOTCLEF= (translated) 

Morane-Saulnier Ms.470

 

The Morane-Saulnier Ms.470 'Vanneau' (French word for 'Plover' - the bird) was a two-seater trainer prototype that was the first of its family and served both with Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) and Aéronavale (French Navy's Air Arm) in the post-war.

During German Invasion of France in 1940 just before the French armistice, Morane-Saulnier's chief designer, Paul-René Gauthier aided in evacuating their factory at Villacoublay, a town close to Paris. Morane-Saulnier was re-established in the Vichy area with Gauthier becoming the head of the new factory. Work continued on various designs, among them, the Ms.470, hoping that it could be used after the war.

The Ms.470 was a two-seat trainer with a crew of two, trainee and instructor, sitting in tandem under a long-glass canopy. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with an inward-retracting landing gear that fitted the wheels in a recess, leaving them partially exposed. This was done on purpose to make them act as a buffer in case of a wheels-up landing in order to minimize damage to the main fuselage. It was powered by a single Hispano-Suiza 12X inline engine rated at 690 hp, driving a three-bladed propeller. The Ms.470 was unarmed, however it's not clear if it was intended to have any kind of armament as subsequent versions (namely the Ms.472 'Vanneau II') were armed. 

The prototype Ms.470 flew for the first time on 22nd December 1944 at Puteaux, in Paris, after the Morane-Saulnier's factory was liberated by the Allies. It was tested by the late-war Armée de l'Air (Technically it was still named 'Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres - Free French Air Forces) and approved for production one year later in an improved version, the Ms.472, which, together with the other variants such as the Ms.474 and Ms.475 one of the main French trainer aircraft of the post-war. 

Sources:

1. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS470_vanneau.html

2. https://www.armedconflicts.com/Morane-Saulnier-MS-470-Vanneau-t16346

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_Vanneau

4. http://www.aviastar.org/air/france/morane_ms-470.php

Morane-Saulnier Ms.450

 

On 27th February 1937 the French Service Technique Aéronautique, (Aeronautical Technical Service) issued a requirement for a new fighter that could complement the Ms.405 and the more promising Ms.406. 

The Ms.450 employed more updated construction techniques than its predecessors as it had dural monocoque fuselage and plymax-skinned metal wings instead of the tubular metal framework, covered with fabric at the rear and plymax (plywood bonded to aluminum) at the front. It was powered by a single Hispano-Suiza 12Y51 which yielded a total power of 1.085 hp and was armed with a total of four 7.5 mm MAC 1934-39 machine guns at the wings, two on each plus a 20 mm Hispano-Suiza Hs.404 cannon placed inside the engine which fired through the propeller hub. 

A total of three prototypes were made, the first of which flew for the first time on 14th April 1939 and the second one in November that same year at Morane-Saulnier's factory in Puteaux. 

When tested it didn't show bad ratings, however, a month earlier, in March, its most direct competitor, the Dewoitine D.520 had been ordered for mass production as it was considered a better aircraft. After the fall of France in June 1940 work on the Ms.450 was continued in Switzerland, where it was further refined into an almost completely new aircraft, the Doflug D.3802, but that's a subject for another post.

Sources:

1. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS450.html

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_M.S.406#M.S.450

3. http://www.aviastar.org/air/france/morane_ms-450.php

4. https://www.valka.cz/Morane-Saulnier-MS-450-C-1-t35874

5. https://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1735&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=931&ANNEE=0&ID_MISSION=0&MOTCLEF= (translated)

Morane-Saulnier Ms.435

 

The Morane-Saulnier Ms.435 was a twin-seater French advanced trainer, based on the Ms.406, which was ordered into production in 1939 but it couldn't be delivered on time before the fall of France.

The Ms.435 began its life as the Ms.430, in 1937 when, after undergoing some testing and development, it was decided to fit a Gnome-Rhône 7Kfs radial engine in the fuselage, as the Ms.433. This variant was, however, cancelled in favor of the Ms.435, as the fuselage of the Ms.406 was better than the Ms.405's one.

The Ms.435's fuselage differed from the Ms.406's one in having a bigger cross section but it was also a low-wing single-engined monoplane with a crew of two, instructor and trainee sitting in a continuous glazed canopy. It was powered by a single Gnome-Rhône 9Kdrs radial engine which yielded 550 hp of power and it was also equipped with an inward retracting landing gear.

The prototype flew for the first time on 6th December 1939, when it was presented to the public in Armée de l'Air's colours. The French Air Ministry placed an initial order of sixty serial produced aircraft as the Ms.435P.2 (the letter P standing for "Professeur" - teacher and the number 2 meant that it had capacity for two crew members). However, as the Armée de l'Air was in need of fighters, the Ms.435 had a very low production priority and only the prototype remained completed before the fall of France in June 1940.

Sources:

1. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS435.html

2. https://www.valka.cz/Morane-Saulnier-MS-435-P-2-t167647

3. https://www.aviafrance.com/morane-saulnier-ms-435-aviation-france-864.htm (translated)

4. https://www.aviastar.org/air/france/morane_ms-435.php

Morane-Saulnier Ms.430

 

The Morane-Saulnier Ms.430 was a French two-seat training aircraft loosely based on the Ms.405 fighter.

The Ms.430 resembled the original designs of the Ms.405, as it had similar wings and an inward retracting landing gear, with a different tail. The fuselage was extended to make room for a second pilot, with both, trainee and instructor sitting in tandem. Unlike the Ms.405 which had an inline engine, the Ms.430 was powered by a single Salmson 9Ag which yielded 390 hp of power and was unarmed. 

The Ms.430 flew for the first time on 3rd March 1937 and it underwent two years of testing, where it proved to be underpowered and not improving the performance of the Morane-Saulnier Ms.230, the main trainer of the Armée de l'Air back then, which was designed a decade earlier. 

In order to fix that problem, a new variant was projected, powered by a more powerful Gnome-Rhône 7Kfs engine, named as Ms.433. However, work continued on the Ms.435 a variant with a completely redesigned fuselage. There was also a fighter version projected, which would've been known as the Ms.408.

Sources:

1. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS430.html

2. https://www.aviafrance.com/morane-saulnier-ms-430-aviation-france-863.htm (translated)

Morane-Saulnier Ms.230, home users and variants

 The Morane-Saulnier Ms.230 was the main elementary trainer aircraft of the French Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) through the whole 1930s. Almost every pilot flying for the Armée de l'Air at the outbreak of World War 2, had flown the Ms.230 at any point in their careers. Its most direct equivalents are the Boeing-Stearman Model 75, the British de Havilland Tiger Moth and the German Bücker Bü.131 Jüngman, to name a few.

The Ms.230 was designed to meet a requirement of the French Air Ministry issued back in 1928 for a machine in the lines of the Morane-Saulnier Ms.53 and the Morane-Saulnier Ms.130 (them both being two-seat parasol trainers of the 1920s). To such end, Morane-Saulnier re-engined a single Ms.133 with an uncovered Salmson 9Ab radial engine and fitted the landing gear from a Morane-Saulnier Ms.181 and, one year later, in 1929, the Ms.230 was presented and adopted by the Armée de l'Air.

The Ms.230 was a parasol wing monoplane of metallic tubular framing with fabric covering the whole fuselage except for the forward area, which was covered in metal. The instructor and the trainee occupied two cockpits in a tandem configuration and had a fixed landing gear, making it very stable for take off and landing. For a time when most of the trainers consisted on biplanes, the Ms.230 was, with its parasol wing, an exception.

During its first trials in February 1929, it revealed to be an excellent and stable machine which was easy to fly and also as robust as its contemporaneous fighters. Its parts were also very accessible, making it easier its maintenance and, thanks to its maneuverability and polivalence, it quickly became very popular. 

The French Air Ministry ordered an initial batch of 500 machines, with production starting in March 1929, with the first production machine rolling out the factory the 15th of that month. It was presented to the public in the 1929 Michelin Cup and the 1930 Salon International de l'Aeronautique on 28th November 1930. It was assigned to every military flying school in France and was also used by the Aeronavale (French Navy's Air Arm) in French colonies like Tunisia.

Apart from the variants already covered in previous posts, namely the Ms.229, Ms.233 and Ms.236, there were also some experimental variants:

• Ms.231: Version built in 1930 which was powered by a single Lorraine 7Mb engine yielding 240 hp of power. A total of six machines were made.
• Ms.232: Single prototype made in 1930. It was fitted with a Clerget 9Ca diesel radial engine rated at 200 hp.
• Ms.234: The Ms.234 was a single machine destined to be used by the American ambassador in Paris. It was powered by a Wright J-6-9 engine (itself a license copy of the Hispano-Suiza 9Qa) which yielded 330 hp of power (though, according to other sources, it was just 250 hp) 
• Ms.234/2: Racer version for the 1931 Michelin Air Race. It was powered by an Hispano-Suiza 9Qb rated at 230 hp covered with a cowl.  It was flown by Michel Détroyat in subsequent editions of the Michelin Coup until 1938.
• Ms.235: Single prototype powered by a Gnome-Rhône 7Kb engine rated at 300 hp. Flew for the first time in March 1935.
• Ms.237: Five machines powered by the Salmson 9Aba engine rated at 280 hp. They were built for private owners in 1934. In 1942 the German Luftwaffe seized one machine belonging to Air France Trasatlantique. 
• Ms.330: Parasol wing trainer, made entirely out of metal, destined to replace the Ms.230. It was made in 1929 but it failed to live to its expectations and wasn't ordered into mass production. It was powered by a covered Salmson 9Ab radial engine and, though externally looking similar to the 230, it had a new wing profile. 
  Tests revealed that it had a tendency to fall into an uncontrollable flat spin after some maneuvers and development was abandoned. However, two sub-variants, Ms.331 and Ms.332, were tested with different engines to try and solve that problem. Neither of those was successful and the project was abandoned. 
• Ms.530: The last in a long series of parasol trainer aircraft built by Morane-Saulnier. It was similar to the Ms.330, as it was the result of almost a decade of development. Powered by a Salmson 9ABd radial engine with a NACA cowling, rated at 280 hp. It flew for the first time on 9th September 1938, but as its performance wasn't better than the regular Ms.230, the project was abandoned.

The Wikipedia in English mentions a floater variant, the Ms.235H, but that's the only reference we have found. It's not even mentioned in the French Wikipedia page nor in the various books we have consulted.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_MS.230

2. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_MS.230 (translated)

3. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS330.html

4. https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/morane-saulnier-designations.911/

5. https://www.valka.cz/Morane-Saulnier-MS-230-t167614 (translated)

6. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS530.html

Morane-Saulnier Ms.230, foreign users, part two

 

The Morane-Saulnier Ms.230 was a French two-seat single-engine trainer aircraft from the late 1920s that served, in many variants, with various countries all around the globe until World War 2. We already covered some of them in our previous post, so here are the remaining ones:

• Greece: Eighteen Ms.230 were ordered by the Royal Hellenic Air Force (RHAF) in October 1930 and were delivered in 1931. They were the main elementary trainer of the RHAF until 1936 when they were replaced by the Avro Tutor. The Ms.230s were not, however, written off, as they were kept as advanced trainers until the beginning of World War 2.
• Portugal: This Iberian country had its own version of the Ms.230; the Morane-Saulnier Ms.233 was powered by a Gnome-Rhône 5Ba or, in the latest versions, the Gnome-Rhône 5Bc which delivered, both of them, 230 hp of power. Six of them were built in France and 16 in Portugal by OGMA (Oficinas Gerais de Material Aeronáutico - General Workshops of Aeronautical Material). The were the main trainer of the Portuguese Aeronautical Corps during the 1930s and some of them were exported to Spain.
• Romania: In 1931 the Royal Romanian Air Force (RRAF) bought twenty Ms.230. They were used as their main trainer. As we couldn't find any graphical evidence of the Ms.230 serving in Romanian colours, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• Switzerland: In 1931 the Swiss Flugwaffe (Swiss Air Force) bought two Ms.229 for basic training. These machines were identical to the Ms.230 but were powered by an Hispano-Suiza 8a V8 engine. This engine turned to be problematic as the engine failed in mid air various times, luckily, without any loss. After some investigations on the causes, it was found that the engine wasn't suitable for acrobatics, so one of them, numbered 643, was re-engined in 1932 with an American Wright 9Qa radial engine, licensed made in Switzerland as Hispano-Suiza 9Qa. Flight performance was improved, but only one machine was brought to that standard. They were kept in active until 1939 when they were withdrawn from active service.
• Slovak Republic: During late 1940 or early 1941, a single captured Ms.230 was given to the newly established Slovak Flying Corps. This single Ms.230 was kept at Vajnory airfield, as glider tug. It was probably destroyed in March 1945. Apparently there was a second machine which was given without its engine and was used for spare parts.
• Republican Spain: The Fuerza Aérea Republicana Española (FARE - Spanish Republican Air Force) bought six Ms.233 from Portugal at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. They were employed as elementary trainers at La Rivera flying school. 
• Venezuela: In 1930 Venezuela acquired three Ms.230 for their Regimiento Militar de Aviación Nº1 (No.1 Military Aviation Regiment - de facto the Venezuelan Air Force during the 1930s and part of the 1940s). They were kept in active until late 1930s when they were replaced by more modern types.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_MS.230

2. https://www.haf.gr/en/history/historical-aircraft/morane-saulnier-ms230/

3. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS229.html

4. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS233.html

5. https://www.valka.cz/Morane-Saulnier-MS-230-t167614 (translated)

6. http://wings-aviation.ch/51-Profiles/M/M-Basis-en.htm (translated)

7. https://www.oocities.org/slovakaf/lietadla/ms-230/ms-230.en.htm

8. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/forodemodelismo/morane-saulnier-ms-230-t4608.html (translated)

9. http://www.amigosdelmuseoarqueologicodelorca.com/alberca/pdf/alberca15/15_15.pdf (translated)

10. https://maquetas.mforos.com/353330/12935183-morane-saulnier-230-venezolano-esc-1-48-scratchbuilt/ (translated)