Daher Brings The Morane-Saulnier Type L To This AirVenture

The flight-worthy replica of an ancestor to Daher’s TBM very fast turboprop aircraft – the Morane-Saulnier Type L aeroplane, built by a group of aviation history enthusiasts – will be on display at AirVenture later this month. This historic airplane is the product of a 6-year adventure that started in 2011 during the 100th anniversary of Daher’s roots as an aircraft manufacturer.

2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry in World War I, which had an enormous influence on the development of aviation worldwide. The U.S. Army Air Service needed to train thousands of pilots, and the service created flight schools in France – including the large Issoudun operation, established in July 1917.

Morane-Saulnier’s contribution to this massive effort was to provide the “Parasol” aeroplanes as training aircraft. Some of them were converted as “Morane rouleurs” for preliminary training. The “rouleur” function was to teach new pilots to properly taxi the aircraft before starting to fly in dual-control airplanes. The type became popular, and other Morane-Saulnier aircraft, such as Type AI fighters, were purchased by the U.S. Army and brought back to the American continent – where they served until the 1920s.

The replica’s construction project is managed by the Association Héritage Avions Morane-Saulnier, whose volunteers are both retired and current workers of Daher and its predecessors, bringing their energy and passion to this project. Some of them are Morane-Saulnier veterans in their mid-80s. This replica retains the type’s original wooden structure, along with the wing-warping system and all-flying rudder and stabilator controls. To date, over 15,000 man hours have been invested by the group of volunteers in various tasks ranging from woodworking to computer-assisted design. As the Morane-Saulnier aircraft is being built to fly, modern upgrades have been incorporated, including the substitution of a 110 hp. Rotec radial engine in place of the original Le Rhone rotary 80-hp engine. Fuselage airframe is in spruce wood partially covered by birch plywood. Polyester fiber fabric cover the spruce structure of the wings and aluminum leading edge. Wing and empennage tips are in balsa wood. Main metal components are the landing gear is in welded steel tubes, copper welded fuel tanks, aluminum wing-to-fuselage fittings and stabilizers controls. The engine cowling is in fiberglass.

This highly symbolic project is truly creating aviation history, recalling many firsts with the “Parasol” as a highly symbolic TBM predecessor:

• First high-wing monoplane built in large production numbers;
• First aircraft used as a fighter (initially with an observer as a gunner) for the three allied powers, France, Russia and the UK at the beginning of World War I. Many aces scored their first victories on the “Parasol,” including French ace Georges Guynemer;
• First aircraft to successfully shoot down an enemy airplane by firing a gun through the propeller (accomplished by Roland Garros in April 1915);
• Royal Navy Lieutenant Reginald Warneford became the first aviator to receive a Victoria Cross with the destruction of a Zeppelin airship in June 1915;
• First crossing of the Andes mountains by Argentinian Lieutenant Luis Candelaria, from Argentina to Chile in April 1918.

The Morane-Saulnier Parasol served in 17 countries and regions (Argentina; Belgium, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, the Ottoman Empire, Poland, Romania, Imperial Russia, Sweden, Soviet Union, Ukraine, USA) until 1919. While some 1,000 units were produced by several manufacturers in France, the UK, Germany, Sweden and Russia, none of the original Type L aircraft are in existence today.

The Type L replica project has received support from its beginning by Daher, which provides workspace, tooling and expertise.

Bringing the Type L to AirVenture Oshkosh is an extension of this support, using the Daher parent company’s logistics expertise to transport the unique and fragile aeroplane from Daher’s industrial site at Tarbes, France to Oshkosh, Wisconsin in the U.S.

As the Morane-Saulnier “Parasol” is fragile, and represents an oversized load for standard containers (23.9 ft. long fuselage), Daher’s special projects department designed a tailor-made crate for the shipment to make it practical and to protect this symbol of aviation history. The crate traveled by truck to France’s Le Havre harbor for its sea-going voyage to New York harbor, then by truck to Wisconsin.

Its movements are monitored by Daher’s transportation department, providing an in-service validation of Daher’s Connected Container system. This crate is equipped with a tracking box that can also be connected with other container   to ensure this unique cargo is followed throughout its travels even in bottom of the bilge. The process will be reversed after AirVenture Oshkosh, returning the “Parasol” to France, where the aircraft will be prepared for its first flight.

(Image provided with Daher news release)

FMI: www.dahar.com