When there was a discussion of the Dewoitine D520 aircraft, many commentators said that the Morane-Saulnier aircraft were no worse than the Dewoitine fighters. I would venture to make out this moment as much as possible.
To begin with, a small excursion into history, just to pay tribute to the memory, because "Moran-Saulnier" has long ceased to exist. But since the contribution made to the history of aviation is quite large, let's remember. Why not?
Morane-Saulnier was originally founded under the name Société Anonyme des Aeroplanes Morane-Saulnier on October 10, 1911 by the brothers Leon and Robert Moran and their friend Raymond Saulnier.
Later the name was shortened to the familiar "Moran-Saulnier"
The company's aircraft took an active part in the battles of the First World War. Naturally, on the side of the Entente.
And in 1914, Robert Saulnier went down in aviation history as the first machine gun with a synchronizer to be installed on an aircraft. The aircraft were of the Morane-Saulnier G model, the machine gun was a Hotchkiss with a caliber of 7.9 mm. And that's how it all started.
During the existence of "Moran-Saulnier" engineers and designers of the company have developed more than a hundred aircraft, including our hero - the MS.406 fighter, which was most often encountered in the French Air Force until the defeat of France in World War II.
In May 1965, after the nationalization of the aviation industry in France, the mention of Morans and Saulnier disappeared from its name, and the company became known as Socata.
Now about the fighters.
Morane-Saulnier MS.405, 1935
The story begins in the mid-30s of the last century, when all leading countries began to develop "new wave" fighters - monoplanes equipped with liquid-cooled engines, with retractable landing gear and a closed cockpit.
France was no exception, moreover, the founders of military aviation still tried to be at the forefront of military developments. And a competition was announced to create a promising fighter. With rather serious parameters: the maximum speed should have been at least 450 km / h at an altitude of 4000 m, and the armament was one or two 20 mm cannons plus machine guns.
History knows that in the clash of five firms (Block MB.150, Dewoitine D.513, Loire 250, Moran-Saulnier MS.405 and Nieuport Ni.160), the aircraft Moran-Saulnier was defeated . It is believed that MS.405 was the most conservative design. And perhaps not the best. But these are already aspects, since Moran-Saulnier celebrated a victory, which was followed by working days.
By design, the aircraft was absolutely not something advanced. Almost the entire frame of the aircraft was made of duralumin profiles and steel pipes, and the skin of the wing and the front of the fuselage was made of plimax material - plywood glued to a thin aluminum sheet.
The power plant is a 12-cylinder V-shaped liquid-cooled engine "Hispano-Suiza" 12Ygrs (860 hp) with a three-blade metal propeller "Chavier". In the collapse of the engine cylinders there was a 20-mm Hispano-Suiza S9 cannon. In addition to the cannon, the fighter had two wing-mounted machine guns with magazine-fed drum. The shops in the wing were located above the machine guns and therefore had to be hidden behind the fairings.
The gas tank was not protected, but a firewall separated it from the cockpit. The pilot had no armor protection.
And then "Hispano-Suiza" offered to put another engine (modified) and a propeller on the plane. Motor "Hispano-Suiza" 12Ycrs with a reduction gear and a propeller "Hispano-Suiza" 27M larger diameter (3 m) made the plane more interesting. Although I had to lengthen the landing gear due to a larger diameter screw, change, strengthen, their fastening and increase the track.
Replacing the engine and propeller increased the speed to 482 km / h. And the order came to build a large series.
Morane-Saulnier MS. 406. 1935
How did MS.405 become MS.406? It's very simple. In fact, this is the same aircraft, only the engine has been replaced again. The MS.406 was powered by the Hispano-Suiza 12Y31 engine, which differed from the 12Ycrs by a new gearbox (with the same gear ratio) and a lower design height.
But according to the documents, it was allegedly a different car. Let's not argue.
The fact is that the MS.406, when it was developed, was a very advanced aircraft. But the four years that the French military department tried to establish mass production, played a very cruel joke.
Four and a half years have passed since the assignment was issued, during which time a lot has changed, including potential opponents.
Britain put the Hurricanes and Spitfires on stream in 1938. If the Hurricane was, shall we say, almost equivalent to MS.406, then the second was superior to it. And the Germans by this time had a more advanced Bf 109E.
In general, I would state the fact that having a good development, the French are categorically late with production. Moreover, there was always a lack of … that's right, engines!
1938 is the year the French government started having problems with Mark Birkigt, the founder of Hispano-Suiza. The French government began nationalizing the entire aviation industry and Birkigt rushed back to Switzerland, causing many problems for the French Air Force.
But we have already written about this: About Birkigt and "Hispano-Suise"
It got to the point that licensed "Hispano-Suizy" began to be purchased where they were released under license. For example, we managed to come to an agreement with the Czechoslovakians, where “Hispano-Suizu” was produced at the “Avia” factories. We ordered a lot, but received only 80 pieces, after which Czechoslovakia was gone.
By the way, they tried to buy the M-100A motors from the USSR, which were just "Hispano-Suizs", licensed, but the Russians turned their fingers over their heads and did not sell the motors.
Therefore, MS.406 was released slowly and unevenly. There were other problems with the complete set of finished cars.
Oddly enough, but the plane "entered" the pilots. The car turned out to be accessible even to a not very experienced pilot, it forgave a lot. The low wing loading provided good maneuverability on the horizontal lines and an acceptable landing speed.
But there were also negative aspects. The pilots noted insufficient engine power. Moreover, due to engine overheating, it was difficult to operate it at maximum speeds. The radiator system played a role, which did not close the blinds, but was drawn into the fuselage. To get a speed of about 450 km / h, it was necessary to retract the radiator, improving aerodynamics, but the motor overheated. A kind of vicious circle.
Machine guns, which had no heating, calmly froze in the wings at an altitude of more than 4 thousand meters. Saint-Exupery wrote about this. The machine gun ammunition was depressingly small, in addition, it was extremely difficult to get to the store.
Well, the lack of armor was not encouraging. So much so that combat units began to independently equip aircraft with armored backs from old fighters.
The first MS.406 got into military service in North Africa, but in reality their European ones went into battle. By September 1939, when Germany attacked France, its air force numbered 557 MS.406 units.
And even if not often, but during the "Strange War" there were battles with the Germans, in which it became possible to understand the combat value of MS.406 as a fighter.
It is clear that the main opponent for MS.406 was the Messerschmitt Bf.109E. The German was superior to the Frenchman both in speed (by 75-80 km / h) and in climb rate. And with weapons, the 109 was much better: one more 20-mm cannon.
The Frenchman's ammunition seemed to be better: the HS 404 was equipped with 60 rounds, and the MG-FF on the Messerschmitt - 15 in the horn magazine or 30 in the drum. But the German was firing twice as many shells per second, so this is not such an advantage in general.
There were also pluses. MS.406 had a smaller turning radius, which made it possible to successfully fight on the horizontal, but the war had already shown that the horizontal is outgoing. So, realizing their advantage in the vertical, the Germans very successfully shot down MS.406.
During the "strange war" the French Air Force did not lose so many aircraft (less than 20), but it became clear that a real war would begin - and the losses would be much more serious.
It was necessary to replace MS.406 with something really capable of withstanding German fighters (the same Dewoatin D.520 or Bloch MB.151), but alas, the French military department was so unable to adequately respond to the situation …
It got to the ridiculous: how the MS.406 fighter was unable to fight the bombers! Yes, the Frenchman somehow coped with the slow Ju-87В and Non-111, but the Do-17Z and Ju-88 easily left.
It seems that there was an option, and it was back in 1937, when "Moran-Saulnier" offered the Air Force the MS.540 project, in fact the same MS.405, but with a metal semi-monocoque fuselage, a slightly modified wing and reinforced armament (cannon and four machine guns) …
However, the engine remained the same old 12Ycrs, and even though it accelerated the aircraft to a speed of 557 km / h during tests, MS.406 could not save anything.
And the Air Force chose the Dewoitine D.520. In "Moran-Saulnier" they did not give up, and prepared two more projects for the modernization of MS.406, under the names MS.409 and MS.410.
The first was to supply MS.406 with a radiator from MS.540. The second involved not only replacing the radiator, but also modernizing the wing with the placement of four MAC 1934 M39 machine guns with belt feed and up to 500 rounds of ammunition per barrel. The machine guns were equipped with heating and a new electric pneumatic release system. Plus, new aerodynamic improvements gave a speed increase of 30-50 km / h.
The Air Force considered the work to be successful and ordered 500 aircraft. But the beginning of the German offensive put the final end to all ambitions and a real war began.
Some of the changes planned for the MS.410 were implemented on the latest MS.406 series, released in the same year, or on earlier machines directly at the front. This is a new sight and an enlarged armored back. At field airfields, a system for heating machine guns and a cockpit with exhaust gases, rear-view mirrors were installed.
It was clear to everyone that these were half measures, but it was necessary to fight at least with such machines, so the production and modernization continued.
It was not until March 1940, when the D.520 was assembled and the release of MB.151 and MB.152 was expanded, that MS.406 was finally discontinued.
Thanks to the efforts of French officials from the Ministry of Defense, MS.406 became the record holder for mass production among French fighters: 1,098 were built together with MS.405.
This aircraft continued to be the main fighter of the French Air Force in May, when the Germans went on the offensive. At that time, about 800 MS.406 were in combat units and in reserve, 135 more were based in the colonies. In total, on May 1, there were 1070 MS.405 and MS.406 fighters.
How did MS.406 fight?
In total, the Morans shot down about a third of the planes lost by the Germans in the French campaign. But this is more due to the number than due to the high level of the machine. Plus the maneuverability of the car helped a little.
The fact that the list of aces of the French Air Force includes only two pilots who fought on the MS.406 (Le Gloan and Le Nigen with 11 confirmed and two unconfirmed victories each) says a lot.
And the main number of MS.406 was lost when someone from the staff came up with the golden idea of using fighters as attack aircraft. The effectiveness of the MS.406, which did not have a bomb suspension and outstanding weapons, in this capacity was small, and the losses were significant.
The successes achieved have generally cost MS.406 a lot. About 150 MS.406 were shot down and about 100 were lost on the ground. Especially many planes were killed on the ground during the massive German raids on 10 May.
However, the fact is that of all French fighters, the MS.406 firmly held the lead in relative losses. One shot down MS.406 accounted for 2.5 enemy aircraft.
After the surrender of France, MS.406 fought in North Africa, Syria, French Indochina (Cambodia), Lebanon, and Madagascar. Basically, their fate was to die in battles with the British Air Force, which was actively developing the former French colonies.
Also MS.406 fought in the Finnish and Croatian air forces on the side of Germany. In addition, MS.406 ended up in the Turkish, Finnish and Bulgarian Air Forces.
In Switzerland, they set up their own production under license. The aircraft had the same 12Y31 engine with a retractable radiator, but differed in equipment and armament (two Swiss 7, 49 mm machine guns with belt feed in the wings). The aircraft was produced under the brand names D-3800 and D-3801.
What can be said as an epitaph? It is worth agreeing that the MS.406 was a very good aircraft. At the time it was designed. 1935 year.
But the frankly long development of production and the lack of normal modernization work on the car nullified all the positive aspects.
The MS.406 turned out to be an aircraft with no perspective, and in any case, it should have been replaced precisely at the turn of 1940. But the situation so developed that the plane was incapable of a serious confrontation with more modern German and British (in the colonies) aircraft.
But since quite a lot of it was released, MS.406 was forced to go into battle. Comparable to the Soviet I-16, no matter how it looks.
LTH MS.406
Wingspan, m: 10, 61
Length, m: 8, 13
Height, m: 2, 71
Wing area, m2: 17, 10
Weight, kg
- empty plane: 1893
- normal takeoff: 2470
Engine: 1 x Hispano-Suiza 12Y 31 x 860 HP
Maximum speed, km / h: 486
Cruising speed, km / h: 320
Practical range, km: 900
Rate of climb, m / min: 667
Practical ceiling, m: 9850
Armament: one 20 mm HS-404 cannon and two 7.5 mm MAC 34 machine guns.
