I was watching the Discovery Wings channel and caught a very brief glimpse of what looked all the world like a Morane Saulnier G or H (I can't tell the difference) in living color video tape while flaring to land...

Is there an example of one of these aircraft still surviving, or a replica out there in the US or Europe? What kind of engine?

Or was I just hallucinating and it was a Bleriot....?

Happy Holidays to all from a new(ish) Forumite.

Ryan Wubben
Chapel Hill, NC

Rhinebeck has an original A-1:

http://www.njahof.org/rhinebeck/rhine09.jpg

You'll have to forgive me, I'm not up to speed on Moranes, I don't know if the G and H is a high wing, but is this the one you saw?

No, this was a shoulder wing aircraft with an engine cowl that only covered the top of the engine. The aircraft looked to have a real rotary (cylinders spinning).

I may be totally off as well. It was modern color video tape, so it was something around today that is either a replica or restored.

I pulled my copies of "French Aircraft of WW1" and "IRAS" and the closest I could come up with was the Morane Saulnier.

Thanks,
Ryan

Hi,

I'm sure that some of our British forumites can offer more information than this, but there is a Morane Saulner "N" replica (well, sort of ;)) that I believe is still flying in Britain. It was built by Bainchi's Personal Plane Service, and it differs in many ways from the original, since it was built for heavy-duty film work. The fuselage was made from welded steel tubing and the wings were adapted with ailerons, not wing-warping. In addition, the tailplane surfaces were altered with separate elevators. However, it has, I believe, a Continental C90 and not an original rotary, so perhaps it is not the plane you have seen.It has been seen in several films and shows up often in "coffee-table books" devoted to general aviation history, etc. The engine is fully cowled in every photo I have seen, with a small spinner attached to the prop.

I'm even less well-informed about replicas flying in France, but I believe the Salis collection (at La Ferte Alais ?) had one or two replica (?) Morane-Saulner H aircraft that were airworthy, perhaps with rotary engines. Can anyone else add more about this ?

Greg VanWyngarden

Here is a page with photos of a Morane H at la Ferté-Alais, this may be the one:

http://www.ajbs.com/musee/museepagehtml/Mo...ne-H-Master.htm

BTW, after examining those photos, it's not hard to figure out what plane was the inspiration for Tony Fokker's Eindecker! *;)

I believe that is it!
Looks just like what I saw!
Impressive, even on videotape.

-Ryan Wubben
Chapel Hill, NC

Hi

Thanks for the Link, Guys. I really enjoyed it.
I have often felt that this H is my Favorite WW1 airplane. I say that because of how many I have scratchbuilt models of over the years, both rubber FF scale and 1/72 plastic.
The plane was a famous cross country racer in 14, and a number of companies built licence built copies....Most famous was the Pfaltz E1. When I scratch build it in plastic, it is easier to start with a Revell Eindekker than it is anything else, including the not quite a Pfaltz E IV that just came out.
As a flyer....I have been impressed over the years of building them from peanut to LARGE that they perform with few problems and are easy to trim.
"Inspired" copies.... check out the Siemens Schuckert E1 which has a bigger tail of more dramatic shape. I have one flying right now, and it showes the same nice characteristics of the H, nice clean stall, easy recovery, just Beautiful.
thanks again for the Replica link

Rocky

Could it be? Could the Rheinbeck MoS Type AI (not A1 or A-1, etc.) be a Type 27, instead of the usual two gunned Type 29?

Anybody living close to Rheinbeck willing to photograph - up close if they're willing - the area of the upper fuselage where the gun resides? Please? Pretty please? :)

For those who don't remember, there were three Type AIs - the Type 27C.1 with one gun; the Type 29C.1 with two guns; and the Type 30C.1 which was primarily a training machine with a smaller engine.

Definitely one of my favorites. Too bad it suffered from poor upper wing connections.

It's been a few months since I've been to Rhinebeck, and I've never photographed the Morane AI *:-[, but IIRC, it has a single gun, mounted to the right of center when looking at it from the cockpit.