Morane-Saulnier S

 

The Morane-Saulnier S was a French two-engined World War I intended to be a heavy day-bomber. It was built in 1915 and had a crew of three to four, two of which were intended to be gunners, as the aircraft was provided with machine gun posts at the nose and aft pilot's cockpit at mid-fuselage. The fuselage was wide enough to accomodate two pilots side-by-side and was of circular cross-section. Both the fuselage and tail-assembly were similar to those of the Type P reconnaissance plane. There was a rounded fin on each of the elevators. The three-bay wing was of unequal span, with the upper wing being longer than the lower one. Power was provided by two Renault engines which delivered 220 hp of power each. They were mounted in nacelles and suspended between the upper and lower wing and were very close to crew's cockpit. Just like other French large airplanes of the time, it was equipped with twin nose wheels to prevent nosing over when landing.

The prototype received the serial number MS 625 and was designated as MoS.10 by the Aéronautique Militaire (Military Aeronautics - French Army's Air Corps). It entered in the 1916 competition for a heavy bomber with only the SPAD Type E as its rival because no other design did meet the requirements. Eventually it was the Type S the selected one for mass production with an initial production batch requested by Colonel Joseph Barès (one of French main air generals at the time) of 300 machines at the cost of 60 million Francs. The French parliament felt that the cost was excessive and reduced the order to just 90 aircraft. In response, the Aéronautique Militaire cancelled the order as the Caproni Ca.1 and Ca.5 which was being produced in France under license, already met the demands for a day heavy bomber. Oddly enough, a document of the Aéronautique Militaire dated on 1st November 1916 shows that a MoS.10 with two Renault engines up-rated at 220 hp were in service at the frontlines. However, there are no graphical documents to prove that the Type S ever entered service with the Aéronautique Militaire. Therefore the document makes reference to the Type S at the front for operational evaluation or even to the Type T, although it's very unlikely as the Type T was powered by two 110 hp Le-Rhône engines and it wasn't until August 1917 when it was evaluated.

Sources:

1. Flying Machines Press - French Aircraft of the First World War

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_S