L.Opdyke French Aeroplanes Before the Great War (Schiffer)

D.James Schneider Trophy Aircraft 1913-1931 (Putnam)

Morane-Saulnier Hydro-monoplane

   Roland Garros' Morane-Saulnier floatplane racer in the 1913 contest was a diminutive monoplane developed from a proven type with a wheeled undercarriage. Its design was as simple as possible. The fuselage was a wooden frame structure of rectangular section, which tapered sharply in side elevation to a chisel edge at the rear and was fabric covered. The 50 hp Gnome seven-cylinder air-cooled rotary engine, driving a two-blade wooden propeller, was housed in a circular cowling and was mounted on a similarly-shaped bulkhead attached to the four main fuselage longerons. There was no fixed fin, or tailplane, only a small, almost square, rudder and an elevator.
   The fabric-covered wooden-structure mainplane had two main spars and was shoulder-mounted on the fuselage. Three pairs of warping control cables ran from the top of an inverted V structure mounted on top of the fuselage, and returned to a control yoke under the fuselage. The mainplane was markedly curved in section.
   The small square-section main floats were carried on long forward-raked struts, and a tail float was mounted below the rear fuselage.


   Single-seat twin-float racing monoplane. Wooden construction with fabric covering. Pilot in open cockpit.
   One 80 hp Gnome seven-cylinder air-cooled normally-aspirated rotary engine driving a two-blade fixed-pitch wooden propeller.
   Span 9-2m (30ft 2in); length 6-38m (20ft 11in); wing area 14sqm (150-69sqft). Loaded weight 290kg (639lb); wing loading 20-71 kg/sqm (4-24 lb/sqft).
   Maximum speed 120km/h (74-56mph).
   Production - believed to be only one racing floatplane built during 1913.
   Colour - unknown, possibly natural linen fuselage, wings and tail unit; metal engine cowling; natural varnished wood alighting gear, struts and floats.