Morane-Saulnier AI


The Morane-Saulnier AI was a French parasol-wing fighter aircraft produced by Morane-Saulnier during World War I.

Development and design

The AI was developed as a refinement of the Morane-Saulnier Type N concept, and was intended to replace the Nieuport 17 and SPAD VII in French service, in competition with the SPAD XIII, which it was built as a back-up for. Its Gnome Monosoupape 9N 160 CV rotary engine was mounted in a circular open-front cowling. The strut braced parasol wing was swept back. The spars and ribs of the circular section fuselage were wood, wire-braced and covered in fabric, and faired out with wood stringers. The production aircraft were given service designations based on whether they had 1 gun or 2 guns.

Operational history

A number of escadrilles were created to operate the AI, but by mid-May 1918, most of the aircraft were replaced by the SPAD XIII. After structural problems had been resolved, the aircraft were then relegated to use as advanced trainers, with new purpose built examples being designated MoS 30. Many were used post-war after having been surplussed off, as aerobatic aircraft, including one which was flown by Charles Nungesser.
Fifty-one MoS 30s were purchased by the American Expeditionary Force as pursuit trainers.

Variants

;MoS 27
;MoS 29
;MoS 30
;MoS 30bis

Operators

In addition to military operators, the Morane-Saulnier AI was popular with French aerobatic pilots and a number carried civil registrations.
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Three AIs are flown from La Ferté-Alais.
The Fantasy of Flight collection in Polk City, Florida has an AI that was sold to the United States Army Air Service in 1918 for testing at McCook Field in Ohio until being sold off for private use. It later joined the Tallmantz Collection which was then acquired by Fantasy of Flight in 1985 and restored in the late 1980s.
Another AI, formerly flown by Charles Nungesser is in the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome collection, and was flown in the weekend airshows there.

Specifications (MoS 27 C.1, 150 hp Monosoupape)