Morane-Saulnier MS.406
| Morane-Saulnier MS.406 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Fighter plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
August 8, 1935 |
| Commissioning: |
1938 |
| Number of pieces: |
1176 |
The Morane-Saulnier MS.406 was a French fighter aircraft designed by Morane-Saulnier in 1938 . The MS.406 won a large number of French aerial victories in May / June 1940 (when the Wehrmacht first attacked the Benelux countries in the western campaign and shortly afterwards also France).
The Armée de l'air possessed at the beginning of the campaign in the west more than 2,400 fighters and 1,160 bombers and reconnaissance aircraft in 1464. 1000 of them were MS.406, another 1000 were modern single-seaters.
In Switzerland, the D-3800/3801 series aircraft, built there under license, formed a backbone of the Luftwaffe.
The aircraft did not have any major design flaws. However, it was a bit underpowered compared to enemy fighters. During the attack on France in May 1940, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E was superior to the MS.406; the Morane, however, was one of the few modern hunters of whom the Armée de l'air possessed a sufficient number. A total of 400 aircraft were lost in at least 175 own aerial victories. But many machines were devastated.
development
The French government set a specification for a plywood low-wing aircraft in 1934, which Morane-Saulnier wanted to meet. The first flight of the predecessor MS.405 took place in 1935. At that time the model was considered an excellent aircraft. 17 MS.405 prototypes were made, which eventually led to the MS.406. Production began in January 1939 and was delivered to the French Air Force in March. However, the engine shortage delayed production. On later versions, especially the MS.410, the wings were improved, and it was also better armed.
After the capitulation of France , the German Reich (or the Air Force ) took over large stocks of 406 and 410 machines. Many were used for training purposes. Quite a few were handed over to allied states (such as Italy and Croatia ).
The air forces of the Vichy government used them in Syria against the Royal Air Force .
The Finnish Air Force received 30 MS.406 aircraft in February 1940, which were used in the Winter War.
Soviet engines captured in Finland were later installed. The Swiss and Turkish air forces also used this type.
MS.405
The MS.405 was designed in 1934 as a low-wing aircraft with retractable landing gear. It had a plywood hull, a wood-metal middle section and a duraluminum nose and was the first low-wing aircraft with a closed cockpit and retractable landing gear.
A new 860 hp (640 kW) V-engine of the Hispano-Suiza 12 Y type drove a two-blade Chauvière propeller. The first flight was on August 8, 1935. Development was very slow. The second prototype with the 900 PS (670 kW) HS-12Ycrs engine did not fly until January 20, 1937. The aircraft reached 443 km / h, which was enough to release 16 further prototypes.
MS.406
The result was the MS.406 . The most important changes were the shape of the wings and a lower weight. It was equipped with an 860 hp (640 kW) HS-12Y-31 engine and reached 489 km / h. The armament consisted of a 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS 9 cannon and two 7.5 mm MAC-1934 machine guns . In later models, the HS 9 was replaced by the improved HS 404.
The French Air Force ordered 1,000 aircraft in 1938, but Morane-Saulnier did not have sufficient capacity for such an order. In addition, the state-owned factory SNCAO in Saint-Nazaire was integrated into the production. The first production sample flew on January 29, 1939. Due to the lack of engines, however, production increasingly came to a standstill.
At the beginning of the Second World War, 535 machines were in service. Production ended in March 1940 with 1,000 machines. There were also 77 machines for foreign countries (Finland 30 and Turkey 45).
MS.410
After the 406 went into service, attempts were made to improve its design. The wings were reinforced and a more effective radiator and four MAC machine guns were installed. The machine reached a top speed of 509 km / h. However, when the war began in May 1940, only five machines had been completed. The Germans later modified a series of MS.406 to MS.410, but this mostly only affected the shape of the wings.
MS.411 and MS.412
A copy of the MS.411 was built. It had an HS-12Y-45 engine with an output of 1000 hp (750 kW). The MS.412 with a 1050 HP (780 kW) HS-12Y-51 engine was not completed until the end of the war.
D-3800
Switzerland received two MS-406 C-1 aircraft for testing in 1938; abroad these aircraft were designated as pre-production MS.405, modified to MS.406H , and had a tail skid instead of the tail wheel of all subsequent aircraft. Due to the satisfactory results, license production of a 0 series of eight D-3800 aircraft began in the same year .
The eight machines were manufactured by the Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte (K + W) Thun , the engines by Adolph Saurer AG in Arbon and by SLM in Winterthur. The malfunctions in the adjustment of the Chauvière propeller were particularly criticized. From 1940 onwards, an EW-V3 propeller from Escher-Wyss and also Swiss instruments and weapons were installed in the pre-series and in the subsequent series production . After pre-production, 74 machines followed by August 1940, manufactured by Eidgenössische Flugzeugwerk Emmen , Dornierwerke Altenrhein and SWS in Schlieren and delivered from January 1940. The Hispano-Suiza engines were supplied by Saurer and SLM. In 1942 two more machines were put together from leftover parts. From 1941 a modified version with a more powerful engine than the D-3801 was produced. At the end of the war, most of the D-3800s were serving as trainers and were decommissioned in 1954.
D-3801
Instead of the 860 hp HS-77-Ycrs engine of the D-3800, the aircraft received a newly developed HS-51 12 Y engine with an output of 1000 hp.
Flight performance: Ve max. horizontal 535 km / h; Max. Climb rate 16.2 m / s; Service ceiling 10,800 m above sea level M .; Flight time 1 hour 35 minutes; Range 600 km
207 machines had been manufactured by 1945. This aircraft fleet formed the mainstay of the Swiss air force during the active service from 1939 to 1945. 17 machines with registration (J-281 to J-297) were assembled from leftover parts between 1947 and 1948. You stayed on as a trainer until 1959.
D-3802/3803
The D-3802 was based on the MS.450 with a 920 kW Saurer YS-2 engine and reached a top speed of 638 km / h with the prototype J-401. The eleven pre-series machines built after that remained in use for nine years, but were not fully developed right from the start, which is why the further developed D-3803 with the 1118.5 kW Saurer YS-3 and all-round cockpit was tested. It was armed with three 20 mm HS-404 cannons and reached 664 km / h at an altitude of 7,000 m.
The development was stopped when the Swiss Air Force was able to purchase used P-51D Mustang.
MS.450
In 1939, a prototype of a Hispano-Suiza-12Z engine with 1300 HP (970 kW) was installed in Spain (MS.410). The engine performed noticeably better, especially at altitude.
Use in Finland
In January 1940 Finland received 30 machines from France, which were followed by another 30 in June 1941. In addition, the Germans gave the Finns another 27 captured MS.406 and eleven MS.410. Finland thus had a total of 98 MS.406 and MS.410, which were used relatively successfully against the Soviet Union from the winter war until the end of the war and some of them even remained in service afterwards.
Mörkö-Morane
The Finns revised some machines, the result was the Mörkö-Morane (in some sources also incorrectly Mörkö-Moraani ). It was equipped with a captured Soviet Klimov M-105P engine that developed 1,100 hp (809 kW). With this engine the machine had outstanding performance, it flew for the first time in February 1943. However, only three machines had been converted by the end of the war. At the end of their service in September 1948, a total of 41 aircraft had been modified.
Use in other air forces
The MS.406 was not only used in France, Switzerland and Finland.
During the “Air Meeting” at Le Bourget in 1937, several other countries showed great interest in the type. Poland had realized that it could not modernize its air force quickly enough on its own and therefore sought to purchase a larger number of foreign fighters . The choice fell on the MS.406. Poland ordered 160 pieces, of which the first 50 should be delivered by the end of September 1939. The ship with the finished aircraft left shortly before the German invasion of Poland . Due to the quick conquest of the Polish ports by the Germans, however, it was ordered back to France.
Lithuania ordered 13 MS.406s in 1937, which were completed in Villacoublay and provided with Lithuanian cockades. On December 8, 1937, however, there was an accident in which the Lithuanian test pilot Mikewas was killed. As a result, Lithuania canceled the sales contract and there was never an extradition.
In 1938, the Republic of China signed a contract to purchase twelve MS.406s that were assembled in the SNCAO's factory . The planes arrived in Haiphong harbor in December 1939 . Due to their own needs, the French decided not to deliver the machines to China as planned. Instead, a new hunting squadron was formed with them in Indochina , which was initially deployed against Japan and, after the capitulation in Europe, during the Thai attack on the French colony in early 1941.
The Turkey ordered in October 1939 30 MS.406. This number was increased by a further 15 a little later. All 45 machines could be delivered before the French surrender.
Belgium was already very interested in the type MS.406 in 1936 and in 1937 tried to obtain a license for production in domestic plants. However, negotiations with the French manufacturers failed, so that Belgium lost interest in the aircraft.
Yugoslavia planned to buy 25 MS.406s, but this did not materialize due to France's surrender.
Germany and Italy captured numerous MS.406s during the occupation of France and used them temporarily for training purposes. The Germans were soon dissatisfied with the aircraft and passed the still intact aircraft on to allied states. The Italians did not try to sell their MS.406 to Switzerland and Finland until the summer of 1943, but were unsuccessful.
Bulgaria received 20 retired MS.406 from the Vichy regime in the summer of 1942 . Together with machines of the type Dewoitine D.520 , these aircraft formed the backbone of the Bulgarian air force until the end of the war.
The Croatian Air Force also deployed 48 MS.406 from 1942, which they had received from the Germans. The partisans Tito managed to capture one of the machines intact and use in battle against their opponents.
The following table provides a compact overview of the use of the MS.406 and derived types outside of France:
| country | ordered quantity | received number of pieces |
|---|---|---|
 Bulgaria
|
- | 20th |
 Republic of China
|
12 | 0 |
.svg){kind=small} Croatia
|
- | 48 |
 Finland
|
60 | 87 MS.406, 11 MS.410; 41 modified to Mörkö Morane |
.svg){kind=small} Lithuania
|
12 | 0 |
 Poland
|
160 | 0 |
 Switzerland
|
2 + license | 2 MS.406 C.1, 82 D-3800 and 207 D-3801 |
 Turkey
|
45 | 45 |
.svg){kind=small} Yugoslavia
|
25th | 0 |
Painting
The MS.406 in service with the Armée de l'air did not have a completely standardized camouflage. However, there were three basic schemes depending on the production series or the factory location. In general: the top coat consisted of the colors khaki , Brun protectif (dark brown) and Gris Bleu Fonce (dark blue-gray), while the undersides were painted in the color Gris Bleu Claire . In the specimens with serial numbers smaller than 600 produced by SNCAO in Bouguenais , the segments of the top coat had a diameter of two to three meters, while those with serial numbers above 600 were significantly smaller at 30 to 80 centimeters. The top coat of the machines produced directly by Morane-Saulnier in Puteaux consisted of the same color tones but was very irregular. In some cases, the gris bleu fonce or khaki of the tops has been replaced by Vert Protectif (medium green). A few machines also had the top painted all in khaki .
The French national emblems also varied depending on the production location. The early SNCAO machines received cockades with a diameter of 120 centimeters on the underside , while those on the upper sides of the wings were only 30 centimeters in diameter. In the later specimens, all cockades had a diameter of 80 centimeters. The machines produced by Morane-Saulnier had cockades 80 centimeters wide on the top and 120 centimeters in diameter on the underside.
The Finnish MS.406 flew with their own national emblems in the original French camouflage paintwork until 1941, when this was replaced by a dark green-black-green paint scheme similar to the Luftwaffe camouflage scheme .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | MS.406 | MS.410 | Mörkö Morane |
|---|---|---|---|
| crew | 1 | ||
| span | 10.61 m | 10.70 m | |
| length | 8.17 m | 7.88 m | |
| height | 3.25 m | 2.84 m | |
| Wing area | 16 m² | ||
| Empty mass | 1895 kg | 1923 kg | 2055 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 2540 kg | 2581 kg | 2625 kg |
| Engine | a Hispano-Suiza 12 Y; 860 PS (approx. 630 kW) | a Klimow M-105 P; 1,100 PS (approx. 810 kW) | |
| Top speed | 486 km / h at an altitude of 4500 m | 509 km / h | 532 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 9400 m | 11,400 m | |
| Rate of climb | approx. 17 m / s | ||
| Range | 800 km at 100% power 1100 km at 66% power |
approx. 800 km | 720 km |
| Armament | 1 × 20 mm Hispano-Suiza-HS-9 or HS.404 cannon 2 × 7.5 mm MG MAC-34 |
4 × MAC-34 550 rounds each | 1 × Hispano-Suiza-HS-9 or HS-404 2 × MAC-34 or 4 × MAC-34 each 550 rounds |
Whereabouts
- The aircraft D-3801 number 15 (ex J-277) is in the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (as MS 406) in Le Bourget near Paris.
- The aircraft D-3801 number 66 (ex J-276) is in the Flieger-Flab-Museum in Dübendorf.
Another aircraft had been parked on the Robinson playground at Bucheggplatz in Zurich from 1960 , and another aircraft was in Dutti-Park in Rüschlikon . Even the aircraft that can be seen today in the Museum of the Swiss Air Force was first exhibited in the St. Imier swimming pool. Other aircraft parts were kept privately, which made it possible, thanks to the initiative of Hansruedi Dubler in the late 1990s, to make the aircraft J-143 airworthy again; In March 2000 the first engine run took place in the almost finished aircraft and on June 9, 2000 the aircraft took off again in Buochs for the first time.
See also
literature
- Dominique Breffort, André Jouineau, Alan McKay (translator): French Aircraft from 1939 to 1942 Volume 2: From Dewoitine to Potez. Histoire & Collections, ISBN 2-915239-49-5 (English).
- Kenneth Munson: The World War II Planes. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-87943-302-X .
- Gaston Botquin: MS.406. Lotnicze monograph No. 28, AJ-Press Gdynia, ISBN 83-86208-46-5 (Polish).
Web links
- Page with information about the MS.406 ( Memento of February 13, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- Colors of the MS.406 in the "Wings Palette" (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christienne / Lissaraque: Histoire de l'aviation militaire française. P. 373 ff.
- ↑ Dewoitine D.520 : 351 produced until surrender, Curtiss P-36 : about 290, Bloch MB.152 : about 500.
- ↑ see also Kari Stenman: Morane-Saulnier MS.406 Aces. 2014, chap. 4 (pp. 60–73)
- ^ Walter Knecht: History of the internal combustion engine, development in Switzerland. Baldinger, 2002, ISBN 978-3-905129-06-9 .
- ↑ Jakob Urech, Department of Military Airfields Dübendorf (ed.): The aircraft of the Swiss Air Force since 1914. Verlag Th. Gut, Stäfa 1974, pp. 220–223 / 230/238.
- ↑ D-3802A ( Memento from December 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Slide series on playgrounds in Zurich; Buchegg playground; "Buchegg Zurich green area - community center with Robinson playground according to the educational guidelines of Pro Juventute" - situation plan; around 1960 , Swiss Social Archives
- ↑ Gazette 2014, newspaper of the Association of Friends of the Swiss Air Force (VFL), page 72
- ↑ Hansruedi Dubler on swissaviation.ch