Morane-Saulnier type L

The prototype of the Morane-Saulnier type L came into being in August 1913 when a machine of the type G was converted to a wire-braced parasol monoplane. It was also designated as Morane-Saulnier "Parasol".

The almost fragile looking two-seated reconnaissance and observation aircraft was manufactured with a production of 600 from 1914 on. A Turkish order of 50 aeroplanes wasn't delivered anymore because of the outbreak of war in August 1914. Besides the French and British air forces the type L was also flown by the tsarist air force in Russia.

The type L had a polygonal fuselage, a normal axle landing gear and a tail that merely consisted of a small rudder and elevator. Some of the series machines were equipped with a fixed fin.

The high-wing Morane-Saulnier L belonged to the first attempts to combine the speed of the monoplane with the robustness of the biplane. It was partly flown as a single-seater the armament of which consisted merely of a pistol or a carbine. As a two-seated reconnaissance aircraft it was normally flown even without any armament at all. At that time period the aeroplanes were only employed for reconnaissance and artillery observation missions. The German general staff reported still in September 1914:"....It is the task of the Aviatik to see and not to fight." This attitude changed abruptly, however, when an aeroplane of the type L that comprised a novel armament wrote war history. On this type L the pilot Roland Garros installed a means with which Raymond Saulnier had previously experimented. When it was employed in air combat for the first time in 1915 it made it possible that a 8 mm Hotchkiss machine gun fixedly installed behind the motor cowl could fire directly through the propeller plane. This made the Morane-Saulnier type L the first real "fighter" in the history of aviation.

During the experiments with this precursor to an interrupter gear Saulnier had difficulties with faulty ammunition and therefore attached steel edges on the propeller blades of his aeroplane in order to deflect stray bullets which could have torn the blades to pieces otherwise. The system of these deflector plates was very simple and Garros who mounted the steel deflectors on his Morane-Saulnier L soon succeeded in several shot downs just because the enemy didn't expect to be attacked with a forward firing weapon. However, on April 19th 1915 Garros had to make an emergency landing behind the German lines so that his secret was revealed and gave the impetus to the successful development of the synchronized machine gun in Germany.

Now a completely new manner of conducting war emerged because the development of the synchronizing gear made an end to the prejudice that aeroplanes only had limited mission possibilities mostly for artillery observation. Suddenly the aircraft industry exploded.

The organized air combat originated in France. From January 1915 on each army was allocated an "Escadrille de Chasse" in which aeroplanes like the Morane-Saulnier L, and the single-seated Morane-Saulnier N flew. The latter was equipped in series with a forward firing machine gun and deflector plates on the propeller blades from March 1915 on. The parasol monoplane Morane-Saulnier L was introduced from the turn of the years 1914/15 on as a single-seated fighter for reconnaissance missions and was superior to the German Albatros and Aviatik biplanes until the summer of 1915. Together with the Nieuport "Bébé" it won the air superiority in short time. The German reconnaissance aircraft were virtually defenceless against the allied fighters at this point of time which soon led to a reorganisation of the German air force.

The type LA that was later technically improved from the type L was equipped with ailerons instead of wires for wing twisting and had a better performance. However, it represented only a temporary solution.

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