Morane – Saulnier (typ G/H) – the French/ Russian reconnaissance airplane

Joint-stock “Morane - Saulnier aircraft manufacturing company” was founded in France in 1910 by brothers Leon and Robert Morane and Raimond Slonier. She later became famous for creating and perfecting a series of classic monoplanes. In 1912, "Morans" G and H were constructed, which became a further development of the chosen scheme. The main difference between these modifications was the wingspan: H - it was 9.3 m, G - 10.2 m. As a result, the area of ​​the wing also differed: 14 and 16 square meters. These differences resulted in different flight characteristics: H was faster, but lifted a smaller load. Structurally, the plane was well designed and easy to service. It is hard to believe, that back in 1913 these airplanes, packed in boxes, could be assembled and ready for flight in 11 minutes by two mechanics. At the beginning of World War I, the pilots of reconnaissance planes, which were often the "Morans", met in the sky, politely waved their wings to each other and parted ways. But this idyll did not last long. With the growing importance of air reconnaissance, every flight by an enemy airplane turned into heavy losses. The G-type "Moran" was one of the best planes of the pre-war period, but it was difficult to call it military - it had no armament, which was one of the reasons for Mr. Nesterov's death in this type of plane. He used the only way an unarmed plane could shoot down an enemy aircraft - a ramming. G and H type “Morane” airplanes became widespread in Tsarist Russia. Several factories produced them here: V. Sliusarenko's company, which evacuated from Riga to St. Petersburg, produced from 5 to 15 of these types of devices per month in 1916-1917. A. Porochovshchikov produced a small number of these airplanes at his factory in St. Petersburg, and V. Lebedev's company, based in this city, received an order to produce 60 "Morans" by 1915, but produced only half of them. Most of the airplanes of this type were produced by the “Duks” factory in Moscow. Its owner was a rusty German J. Muller, who changed his surname to Brezhnev at the beginning of the war. In the pre-war period, 10-12 "Morans" were produced here per month. After beginning the war, production increased dramatically. This type of aircraft was used in the First World War only at the initial stage, later they were transferred to the rank of school and training aircraft.

An uncomplicated, well-designed and well-detailed model for modelers of all experience. One of two models can be made from the publication: the G modification plane, which carried out the first air ramming in history and killed the pilot P. Nesterov, the H version plane from France AF with "anti-camouflage" painting, which facilitates recognition from ground units. More attention will be paid to deriving distances and maintaining the symmetry of the model, so experienced beginners and modelers with little experience are better assemble this model under the supervision of a more experienced colleague, and it should not be one of the first more complex models.