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The photos of the MS.407 are very rare. The only ones I have in my collection:
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Morane-Saulnier MS.406, Variants, Projects, Derivatives & Successors
- Thread starter Jemiba
- Start date
At the risk of going off topic, the following might be of interest.
By the looks of it, the Armée de l'Air was using aircraft to test parachutes no later than 1935, if not 1933. The catch was that those machines were hard pressed to achieve speeds of more than 185 mph, which were not sufficient given the expected pwrformances of the new fighter planes the French air force would operate in the late 1930s. The idea of using one or more of those new aircraft originated no later than 1935. At the time, none of them was available, of course.
Given that, an unsuccessful fighter plane prototype, the Loire 45, was turned into a parachute launching aircraft in the late summer of 1935. Preparing that machine for its new mission might have taken some weeks. Although only able to reach 200 mph it level flight, the Loire 45LP could reach 250 mph in a dive, which was not too bad. That aircraft, registered at some point as F-AKHP, seemingly flew until the early 1950s.
A prototype of the Dewoitine D.510 fighter plane test flown in August 1934, the first French military aircraft to exceed 250 mph in level flight in fact, was turned into a parachute launching aircraft known as the Dewoitine 504LP at some point, in 1935 perhaps.
The much higher speeds expected of a new generation of fighter planes meant that such aircraft would not be satisfactory for long.
Some sort of (specially-designed??) cannon was initially used, no later than 1935 by the looks of it, to conduct the tests of newly developed high speed parachutes capable of safely slowing down an individual from speeds of up to 340 mph to 20 to 25 mph in a matter of seconds. The catch was that the brutal acceleration they experienced damaged the parachutes more or less seriously.
Someone then suggested that a powerful catapult capable of launching a mannequin carrying a parachute at speeds of up to 450 mph might do the trick. It is unclear whether or not device was used, or even completed.
By early 1936, the Armée de l'Air had concluded that, to accelerate the testing of new parachutes at speeds of more than 250 mph, one or more of the new, high performance fighter planes it intended to operate would be put to use.
That said, an elderly (1931?) and slow ANF Les Mureaux 110 observation plane was turned into a parachute launching aircraft at some point in late 1937 or early 1938.
Also at some point in 1938, the second prototype of the Dewoitine D.513, a fighter plane which had lost a major contract, won by the Morane-Saulnier MS.405 in early 1937, was completed as the D.514LP. Although only able to reach 250 mph in level flight, that aircraft could reach 310 mph in a dive. The mannequin and its parachute were located between the engine's firewall and the pilot's cockpit.
In turn, the D.514LP was superseded by the MS.407LP.
By the looks of it, the Armée de l'Air was using aircraft to test parachutes no later than 1935, if not 1933. The catch was that those machines were hard pressed to achieve speeds of more than 185 mph, which were not sufficient given the expected pwrformances of the new fighter planes the French air force would operate in the late 1930s. The idea of using one or more of those new aircraft originated no later than 1935. At the time, none of them was available, of course.
Given that, an unsuccessful fighter plane prototype, the Loire 45, was turned into a parachute launching aircraft in the late summer of 1935. Preparing that machine for its new mission might have taken some weeks. Although only able to reach 200 mph it level flight, the Loire 45LP could reach 250 mph in a dive, which was not too bad. That aircraft, registered at some point as F-AKHP, seemingly flew until the early 1950s.
A prototype of the Dewoitine D.510 fighter plane test flown in August 1934, the first French military aircraft to exceed 250 mph in level flight in fact, was turned into a parachute launching aircraft known as the Dewoitine 504LP at some point, in 1935 perhaps.
The much higher speeds expected of a new generation of fighter planes meant that such aircraft would not be satisfactory for long.
Some sort of (specially-designed??) cannon was initially used, no later than 1935 by the looks of it, to conduct the tests of newly developed high speed parachutes capable of safely slowing down an individual from speeds of up to 340 mph to 20 to 25 mph in a matter of seconds. The catch was that the brutal acceleration they experienced damaged the parachutes more or less seriously.
Someone then suggested that a powerful catapult capable of launching a mannequin carrying a parachute at speeds of up to 450 mph might do the trick. It is unclear whether or not device was used, or even completed.
By early 1936, the Armée de l'Air had concluded that, to accelerate the testing of new parachutes at speeds of more than 250 mph, one or more of the new, high performance fighter planes it intended to operate would be put to use.
That said, an elderly (1931?) and slow ANF Les Mureaux 110 observation plane was turned into a parachute launching aircraft at some point in late 1937 or early 1938.
Also at some point in 1938, the second prototype of the Dewoitine D.513, a fighter plane which had lost a major contract, won by the Morane-Saulnier MS.405 in early 1937, was completed as the D.514LP. Although only able to reach 250 mph in level flight, that aircraft could reach 310 mph in a dive. The mannequin and its parachute were located between the engine's firewall and the pilot's cockpit.
In turn, the D.514LP was superseded by the MS.407LP.
Last edited:
Morane in combat
The best fighter in the world in 1937 was French. The airplane, named Morane-Saulnier M.S.405, was a single-engine, single-seat, low wing monoplane with retractable undercarriage and closed cockpit.
The production model M.S.406 C.1 of 1939 was armed with a 20 mm gun (a secret weapon at that time) firing through the propeller hub, capable of shooting any German bombers in service. It also possessed enough speed and manoeuvrability to face the Bf 109 B, C and D of the Luftwaffe using its MAC machine guns.
During the Phoney War (3 September 1939 to 10 May 1940) the M.S.406 made 10,119 combat missions destroying 81 German airplanes. The appearance of the Bf 109 E over the French skies on 21 September 1939, amounted to a technological advantage that gave the aerial superiority to Germans at the critical moment of the Blitzkrieg offensive in May 1940.
The French answer was an improved version of the M.S.406, the M.S.410, that was externally different from the M.S.406 by having four guns in the wings, a fixed cooler, increased armour, a more inclined windshield (to house the GH 38 gunsight), Ratier 1607 electric propeller and Bronzavia propulsive exhaust pipes. It did not arrive on time though and only five 406s were transformed before the defeat.
In 1935 the firm Morane-Saulnier decided to develop a two-seat trainer to facilitate the transition of the pilots from the Dewoitine D.510 to the M.S.405 with retractable landing gear. The first prototype, called M.S.430-01, flew at 360 kph in March 1937, powered by a 390 hp. Salmson 9Ag radial engine. In June 1939 l’Armée de l'Air ordered the production of 60 units under the name M.S.435 P2 (Perfectionnement biplace), powered by a 550 hp Gnôme-Rhône GR 9 Kdrs radial engine, but the acceleration of the production of the M.S.406 and M.S.410 fighters and the acquisition of the North American 57 and 64 trainers in the USA led to the cancellation of the M.S.435.
Foreseeing the possibility of a serious delay in the production of the Hispano-Suiza H.S.12 Y-31 engine, the firm considered the construction of M.S.408 C.1 single-seat light fighter, powered by a radial engine GR 9 Kdrs or a Hispano-Suiza 14 Aa-10 armed with only wing mounted MAC 34A machine guns. The prototype M.S.408-01, with 10.71 m wingspan, was built using many parts of the M.S.430 and a Salmson 9 Ag engine, but the increasing availability of the 12Y-31 dismissed its serial production.
On 15 June 1936 l'Armée de l'Air high command published the Chasseur Monoplace C.1 specification, calling for a single-seat fighter capable of flying at 500 kph at an altitude of 4,000 m, reaching 8,000 m. ceiling in less than 15 minutes. Intended to replace the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406, the new fighter should be powered by a 935 hp Hispano-Suiza H.S. 12Y-45, 12-cylinder ‘Vee’ liquid-cooled engine and armed with one cannon and two machine guns.
Upon learning of the performances of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 B-1, that the Germans had started to manufacture in the fall of 1936, the C.1 specification was amended as Program Technique A23 (12 January 1937) calling for 520 kph maximum speed and armament increase to one 20 mm Hispano-Suiza H.S.404 cannon and four 7.5 mm MAC 34 M39 belt-feed machine guns. Four prototypes were produced to fulfil the requirement: The Morane-Saulnier M.S.450, the S.N.A.C.A.O. 200, the Arsenal VG 33 and the Dewoitine D.520.
By January 1938, French intelligence services estimated the Luftwaffe strength at 2,850 modern aircraft, including 850 fighters. In response the Ministère de l'Air issued the Plan V (15 March 1938) to increase the inventory of the Armée de l'Air to 2,617 aircraft, including 1,081 fighters, to equip 32 Groupes de Chasse and 16 Escadrilles Régionales. But on 1 April 1939 l'Armée de l'Air had only 104 M.S.405/406, one Bloch M.B.151 and 42 Curtiss H.75A and none of these fighters reached the 500 kph.
The M.S.450 prototype was an aerodynamically improved version of the M.S.406. It could fly at 560 kph propelled by an 1,100 hp H.S.12 Y-51 engine, but the Ministère de l'Air did not want to interrupt the manufacturing of the M.S.410 and dismissed its production.
Designed and built by Manufacture d’Armes in Chatellerault (MAC) during the year 1934, it was the standard machine gun used by the French fighters during the Phoney war and the Battle of France. The commonest model was the MAC 34A (for Aile, the French word for wing), gas operated, electro pneumatically loaded, fed from a helical pan 'drum' magazine containing 300 rounds.
The MAC 34 was installed under the wings of the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and Potez 631 fighters in aerodynamic fairings with the drum magazine housed within the wing. The joining system was of the cardan type and could be regulated for convergence at an affective range of 250 m. The mechanism was very sensitive to cold temperatures and might occasionally cause a great firing dispersion.
The belt-feed MAC 34 M39 with 500-675 rounds was developed to solve this problem and reduce drag. It could be installed within the wing of the M.S. 410, Dewoitine D.520, Arsenal V.G. 33 and Bloch M.B.155 which all constituted the 2nd generation of French fighters of the war. There was a variant developed for the M.S.406 exportation version that could be integrated with the engine (firing through the propeller hub) and replaced the H.S.9 cannon. It was a version of the MAC 34A which was fed with a 500 rounds drum.
Another variant with flexible mounting, named MAC 34T (for tourelle, or turret in French) was used in bombers and multiplace fighters. The MAC 34 had a high rate of fire because of the short length of its barrel. Consequently, the muzzle velocity and destruction capacity were reduced up to a point of being considered an inefficient weapon against the He 111, Do 17 and Ju 88 bombers. The MAC 34 fired the short cartridge mod. 1929 with Armour Piercing (AP), Armour Piercing/Incendiary (API) and Armour Piercing Tracer (APT) ammunition. In the M.S. 406 and M.B. 152 the three types of ammunition were sequentially stored in the drums and belts, 40% of AP, 40% of API and 20% of APT.
In the Dewoitine D.520, two machine guns were loaded with AP and the other two with API (a hollowed AP that was then filled with phosphor). The incendiary power of the API was big and its penetration capacity almost non-existent. Additionally, its ballistic features differed from the AP type in the different weight between both bullets. The API was thermally unstable. The heating system of the D.520 weapons had to get disconnected after several cases of spontaneous ignition of the phosphor at temperatures between 40° and 45° C.
In 1935 a 900 hp improved version of the H.S.12 Xcrs engine appeared, known as Hispano-Suiza H.S.12 Ycrs. The integrated cannon was also an improved version of the H.S.7 although somehow lighter and with 420 rounds per minute (r.p.m.) rate of fire but maintaining the same muzzle velocity and destructive power than the Oerlikon. It fired the same type of HE, HET and AP ammunition than the Oerlikon, stored in a 60 rounds drum.
The HE type model 1936 was identified by a yellow band, the HET of 1939 with a yellow and blue band and the AP was overall painted in black. The HE had a 1937 model 17/19 B impact fuse and the HET also had a self-destruction system. The moteur-canon was very successful in the market, being acquired by the Czech Air Force to equip their Avia B-534, B-536 and B-135 fighters and by the Yugoslavian Air Force for their Ikarus Ik-2 and Rogozarski Ik-3. It was also used by l’Armèe de l’Air to power the Morane-Saulnier M.S.405.
After the experience in combat against the fast and well armoured He 111 and Do 17 German bombers obtained during the Spanish Civil War, the engine designer Mark Birkigt decided to develop the H.S. 404 with higher performance. It was gas operated with a 166 per cent higher rate of fire and a muzzle velocity of 880 m/sec compared to the 820 m/sec of the H.S.9. The new weapon entered service in 1939 and could be installed either in the H.S.12 Y-31 engines of the M.S. 406 or in the H.S.12 Y-45 of the Dewoitine D.520, M.B. 155 and Arsenal VG 33 fighters.
The H.S. 404 fired 20x110 ammunition (that was not interchangeable with the 20x110 RB cartridges of the H.S .9) stored in a 60 rounds drum. There were six different types: HE model 1938 or 1939 (130 g) with a 17/19B 1938 model fuse identified by a yellow band, HET identified by a yellow and a blue-grey band, AP (165 g) black projectile with a red band, APT with black nose and metal-grey-metal-red bands, AP/HE with red-yellow-green bands and HEI with red-yellow-blue bands.
This type of ammunition had not been sufficiently tested and caused several accidents during combat. The Dewoitines D.520 of the G.C.I/3 were specially affected, experiencing premature explosions within the barrel when firing the second burst. Between 5 and 8 June 1940 the M.S.406 of the G.C.I/6, G.C.II/2 and G.C.III/7 were used in ground attack task against the German tanks with AP and APT ammunition.
The manufacturing of the H.S. 404 was slow and costly. At the beginning of the war only 928 units had been delivered to l’Armée de l’Air and in March 1940 there were 2,319 units available.
The H.S. 404 was a formidable weapon when integrated in a Hispano-Suiza engine or installed in the nose of the twin engine Potez 631 fighters. However, it was less resilient when installed in the wings of the Bloch fighters, causing different problems of vibration, stoppage, freezing and dispersion of firing.
The H.S. 404 was acquired by the RAF and manufactured under license in the United Kingdom as Hispano-Suiza Mk I, Mk II and Mk V and as Hispano AN/M2 in the USA. A version over flexible mounting was also manufactured to be used by the rear gunners of the French medium bombers LeO 451 and Amiot 354.
Books
Green, W., Warplanes of the Second World War, FIGHTERS, Macdonald 1962.
Facon, P., L’Armée de l’Air dans la Tourmente, Economica 2005.
Comas, M., Le Morane-Saulnier 406, Lela presse 1998.
Cuny, J., Le Dewoitine D.520, Docavia Nº4, Ed. Larivière 1980.
Klein, B., Airplane Five Views, B.C.F.K. Publications 1974.
Marchand, P., Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406 C1, Les Ailes de Gloire Nº7, D’Along 2002.
Shores, C., Armée de l’Air, Squadron/Signal Publications 1976.
Ketley, B., French Aces of World War II, Osprey Publishing 2000.
Marchand, P., Les Moteurs à Piston Français, D’Along 2003.
Publications
Watteeuw, P., “Les Pertes de la Chasse de Jour Allemande en France 1939-45”, AVIONS, Hors Série Nº10 and 15, 2005.
Facon, P., “L’Armée de l’Air en 1939-1940”, Le Fana de l’Aviation, Hors Série Nº7, 1997.
Belcarz, B., “L’Armée de l’Air durant la Campagne de 1940”, Ciel de Guerre Nº8, 2010.
Breffort, D., “L’Armée de l’Air en 1939-1942”, Wing Masters, Hors Série Nº1, 1991.
Michulec, E., “Jagdwaffe en France”, Ciel de Guerre Nº8, 2011.
Correspondence with Paul Deweer, Jean Cuny and Bernhard Klein.
On 30 November 1939, the Soviets attacked the Finland eastern border with 450,000 men (20 divisions), 2,000 tanks, 2,050 cannons and 3,250 aircraft from types Polikarpov I-152, I-153, I-16, R-5, R-Z and U-2, Tupolev SB-2M103 and TB-3, Ilyushin DB-3 M and Beriev MBR-2.
The Finnish Armed Forces had 327,000 men (5 divisions), 20 tanks, 425 cannons, 2 armored ships and 5 submarines. The Ilmavoimat strength was 135 aircrafts: thirty-six Fokker D.XXI, ten Bristol Bulldog Mk.IVA, seventeen Bristol Blenheim Mk.I, thirty-two Fokker C.X, seven Fokker C.VE, fourteen Blackburn Ripon IIF, four Junkers F.13, three de Havilland Moth, three V.L. Saaski and one V.L. Kotka.
The Finns fought fiercely, causing so many losses to the Soviets that they were forced to sign an armistice on 13 March 1940. The international community condemned the aggression by expelling the Soviet Union from the League of Nations on 14 December 1939 and offering military aid to Finland.
The Ilmavoimat received two-hundred-and-ten new planes: thirty Gloster Gladiator Mk.II, twenty-two Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV, thirty Morane-Saulnier M.S.406, thirty-two Fiat G.50, forty-four Brewster B-239, twenty-five Gloster Gauntlet Mk.II, ten Hawker Hurricane Mk.I, one Douglas DC-2, twelve Westland Lysander Mk.I, three Fokker C.V and one Fokker F.VIIa. Many of these models were technologically superior to the Soviets, as were the tactics used by the Finnish pilots, as proved in combat.
In December 1939 the Finnish fighters shot down 60 Soviet airplanes and the Ilmavoimat lost 14. In January 1940, the Soviets lost 53 aircraft in air-combat against 10 Finnish loses. In February, the Soviets changed their aerial tactics, using formations of up to 350 bombers and fighter escorts, to air support the land forces and bomb the population centres.
The Finnish fighters carried out 2,000 sorties and 300 aerial combats, shooting down 71 Soviet aircrafts. Nine others were shot down by Flygflottilj 19, Swedish volunteer air unit that operated in Northern Finland with twelve Gloster Gladiator Mk.I and five Hawker Hart. In March, the Ilmavoimat destroyed 20 more Soviet aircraft, losing 8 aircraft of their own.
Thirty units were donated by French government on February 1940. Twenty five ex-Armée de l'Air fighters were supplied by Germans on October 1940 and two more on October 1942. Between July and September 1942, another 30 aircraft were purchased from the Vichy government. The aircraft were delivered without the engine mounted cannon H.S. 404 and the Finns instead installed a 12.7 mm Berezin UB or a Colt M-2 heavy machine guns. They also replaced the two-wing mounted 7.5 mm MAC 34 A (drum feed) machine guns by two 7.7 mm (belt feed) Brownings and the Chauvière airscrew by a Hamilton Standard.
The engine was an 860 hp Hispano-Suiza H.S.12 Y-31.
Between 17 February 1940 and 12 July 1944, the Moranes shot down twenty SB-2M 103, fourteen I-153, twelve I-16, fourteen MiG-3, ten I-152, six Hurricane, five DB-3M, six Tomahawk, four Airacobra, five IL-2, four MBR-2, two LaGG-3, one La-5, three Pe-2, two R-5, one R-Z, one Boston, one Yak-9 and one U-2, fourteen of them during the Winter War.
Fifteen ex-Armée de l'Air units were supplied by Germany between July and November 1941.
Engine: one 860 hp Hispano-Suiza H.S.12 Y-31 driving one Ratier airscrew. Armament: five 7.5 mm (belt feed) MAC 34 M39 machine guns
Starting from June 1944, forty-one Moranes were re-engined with one 1,100 hp Klimov (Hispano-Suiza) M-105 P driving one VISh-61P constant speed airscrew.
Only three modified aircraft entered combat during the Continuation War, shooting down one La-5 and two Airacobra.
Armament: one engine mounted 20 mm MG 151 cannon and two wing-mounted 7.7 mm (belt feed) Browning machine guns.
Keskinen, K., Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia LeR2, Edita OYJ, 2001.
Keskinen, K., Finnish Air Force 1939-1945, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1998.
Geust, K., Baltic Fleet Air Force in Winter War, Red Stars 5, Apali, 2004.
Geust, K., The Winter War in the Air, Red Stars 7, Apali, 2011.
Green, W., Warplanes of the Second World War, Fighters, Volume Four, MacDonald, 1961.
Luukkanen, E., Fighters Over Finland, MacDonald, 1963.
Keskinen, K., Suomalaiset Hävittäjät, Suomen Ilmavoimient Historia Nº14, 1990.
Comas, M., Le Morane-Saulnier M.S.406, Histoire de l’Aviation Nº5, Lela Presse, 1998.
Stenman, K., Finnish Air Aces of World War II, Osprey Aircraft Aces Nº23, 1988.
Keskinen, K., Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 18 LeR3, Uudenmaan Paino, 2001.
Publications
Partonen, K., “Mörkö-Moraani”, IPMS Mallari, 1984.
Good, M., “Un Fantôme Venu du Froid”, Wingmaster Magazine, Janvier 2000.
Stenman, K., “Le Morane Sort ses Griffes”, Le Fanatique de l’Aviation Nº 554, Janvier 2016.
Gréciet, V., “Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406 C1”, Aèrojournal Nº20.
Keskinen, K., “The Finnish Air Force in the Winter War”, SAFO, April 1990, Vol.14, Nº2.
Stenman, K., “Finland’s Fighter Finale”, Air Enthusiast/Twenty-Three.
Valtonen, H., “Guidebook”, Keski-Suomen Ilmailmuseo, 1999.
Correspondence with Hannu Valtonen, 1999.
The best fighter in the world in 1937 was French. The airplane, named Morane-Saulnier M.S.405, was a single-engine, single-seat, low wing monoplane with retractable undercarriage and closed cockpit.
The production model M.S.406 C.1 of 1939 was armed with a 20 mm gun (a secret weapon at that time) firing through the propeller hub, capable of shooting any German bombers in service. It also possessed enough speed and manoeuvrability to face the Bf 109 B, C and D of the Luftwaffe using its MAC machine guns.
During the Phoney War (3 September 1939 to 10 May 1940) the M.S.406 made 10,119 combat missions destroying 81 German airplanes. The appearance of the Bf 109 E over the French skies on 21 September 1939, amounted to a technological advantage that gave the aerial superiority to Germans at the critical moment of the Blitzkrieg offensive in May 1940.
The French answer was an improved version of the M.S.406, the M.S.410, that was externally different from the M.S.406 by having four guns in the wings, a fixed cooler, increased armour, a more inclined windshield (to house the GH 38 gunsight), Ratier 1607 electric propeller and Bronzavia propulsive exhaust pipes. It did not arrive on time though and only five 406s were transformed before the defeat.
In 1935 the firm Morane-Saulnier decided to develop a two-seat trainer to facilitate the transition of the pilots from the Dewoitine D.510 to the M.S.405 with retractable landing gear. The first prototype, called M.S.430-01, flew at 360 kph in March 1937, powered by a 390 hp. Salmson 9Ag radial engine. In June 1939 l’Armée de l'Air ordered the production of 60 units under the name M.S.435 P2 (Perfectionnement biplace), powered by a 550 hp Gnôme-Rhône GR 9 Kdrs radial engine, but the acceleration of the production of the M.S.406 and M.S.410 fighters and the acquisition of the North American 57 and 64 trainers in the USA led to the cancellation of the M.S.435.
Foreseeing the possibility of a serious delay in the production of the Hispano-Suiza H.S.12 Y-31 engine, the firm considered the construction of M.S.408 C.1 single-seat light fighter, powered by a radial engine GR 9 Kdrs or a Hispano-Suiza 14 Aa-10 armed with only wing mounted MAC 34A machine guns. The prototype M.S.408-01, with 10.71 m wingspan, was built using many parts of the M.S.430 and a Salmson 9 Ag engine, but the increasing availability of the 12Y-31 dismissed its serial production.
On 15 June 1936 l'Armée de l'Air high command published the Chasseur Monoplace C.1 specification, calling for a single-seat fighter capable of flying at 500 kph at an altitude of 4,000 m, reaching 8,000 m. ceiling in less than 15 minutes. Intended to replace the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406, the new fighter should be powered by a 935 hp Hispano-Suiza H.S. 12Y-45, 12-cylinder ‘Vee’ liquid-cooled engine and armed with one cannon and two machine guns.
Upon learning of the performances of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 B-1, that the Germans had started to manufacture in the fall of 1936, the C.1 specification was amended as Program Technique A23 (12 January 1937) calling for 520 kph maximum speed and armament increase to one 20 mm Hispano-Suiza H.S.404 cannon and four 7.5 mm MAC 34 M39 belt-feed machine guns. Four prototypes were produced to fulfil the requirement: The Morane-Saulnier M.S.450, the S.N.A.C.A.O. 200, the Arsenal VG 33 and the Dewoitine D.520.
By January 1938, French intelligence services estimated the Luftwaffe strength at 2,850 modern aircraft, including 850 fighters. In response the Ministère de l'Air issued the Plan V (15 March 1938) to increase the inventory of the Armée de l'Air to 2,617 aircraft, including 1,081 fighters, to equip 32 Groupes de Chasse and 16 Escadrilles Régionales. But on 1 April 1939 l'Armée de l'Air had only 104 M.S.405/406, one Bloch M.B.151 and 42 Curtiss H.75A and none of these fighters reached the 500 kph.
The M.S.450 prototype was an aerodynamically improved version of the M.S.406. It could fly at 560 kph propelled by an 1,100 hp H.S.12 Y-51 engine, but the Ministère de l'Air did not want to interrupt the manufacturing of the M.S.410 and dismissed its production.
MAC 34 (7.5 mm)
Designed and built by Manufacture d’Armes in Chatellerault (MAC) during the year 1934, it was the standard machine gun used by the French fighters during the Phoney war and the Battle of France. The commonest model was the MAC 34A (for Aile, the French word for wing), gas operated, electro pneumatically loaded, fed from a helical pan 'drum' magazine containing 300 rounds.
The MAC 34 was installed under the wings of the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and Potez 631 fighters in aerodynamic fairings with the drum magazine housed within the wing. The joining system was of the cardan type and could be regulated for convergence at an affective range of 250 m. The mechanism was very sensitive to cold temperatures and might occasionally cause a great firing dispersion.
The belt-feed MAC 34 M39 with 500-675 rounds was developed to solve this problem and reduce drag. It could be installed within the wing of the M.S. 410, Dewoitine D.520, Arsenal V.G. 33 and Bloch M.B.155 which all constituted the 2nd generation of French fighters of the war. There was a variant developed for the M.S.406 exportation version that could be integrated with the engine (firing through the propeller hub) and replaced the H.S.9 cannon. It was a version of the MAC 34A which was fed with a 500 rounds drum.
Another variant with flexible mounting, named MAC 34T (for tourelle, or turret in French) was used in bombers and multiplace fighters. The MAC 34 had a high rate of fire because of the short length of its barrel. Consequently, the muzzle velocity and destruction capacity were reduced up to a point of being considered an inefficient weapon against the He 111, Do 17 and Ju 88 bombers. The MAC 34 fired the short cartridge mod. 1929 with Armour Piercing (AP), Armour Piercing/Incendiary (API) and Armour Piercing Tracer (APT) ammunition. In the M.S. 406 and M.B. 152 the three types of ammunition were sequentially stored in the drums and belts, 40% of AP, 40% of API and 20% of APT.
In the Dewoitine D.520, two machine guns were loaded with AP and the other two with API (a hollowed AP that was then filled with phosphor). The incendiary power of the API was big and its penetration capacity almost non-existent. Additionally, its ballistic features differed from the AP type in the different weight between both bullets. The API was thermally unstable. The heating system of the D.520 weapons had to get disconnected after several cases of spontaneous ignition of the phosphor at temperatures between 40° and 45° C.
Hispano-Suiza H.S. 9 (20 mm)
In 1935 a 900 hp improved version of the H.S.12 Xcrs engine appeared, known as Hispano-Suiza H.S.12 Ycrs. The integrated cannon was also an improved version of the H.S.7 although somehow lighter and with 420 rounds per minute (r.p.m.) rate of fire but maintaining the same muzzle velocity and destructive power than the Oerlikon. It fired the same type of HE, HET and AP ammunition than the Oerlikon, stored in a 60 rounds drum.
The HE type model 1936 was identified by a yellow band, the HET of 1939 with a yellow and blue band and the AP was overall painted in black. The HE had a 1937 model 17/19 B impact fuse and the HET also had a self-destruction system. The moteur-canon was very successful in the market, being acquired by the Czech Air Force to equip their Avia B-534, B-536 and B-135 fighters and by the Yugoslavian Air Force for their Ikarus Ik-2 and Rogozarski Ik-3. It was also used by l’Armèe de l’Air to power the Morane-Saulnier M.S.405.
Hispano Suiza H.S. 404 (20 mm)
After the experience in combat against the fast and well armoured He 111 and Do 17 German bombers obtained during the Spanish Civil War, the engine designer Mark Birkigt decided to develop the H.S. 404 with higher performance. It was gas operated with a 166 per cent higher rate of fire and a muzzle velocity of 880 m/sec compared to the 820 m/sec of the H.S.9. The new weapon entered service in 1939 and could be installed either in the H.S.12 Y-31 engines of the M.S. 406 or in the H.S.12 Y-45 of the Dewoitine D.520, M.B. 155 and Arsenal VG 33 fighters.
The H.S. 404 fired 20x110 ammunition (that was not interchangeable with the 20x110 RB cartridges of the H.S .9) stored in a 60 rounds drum. There were six different types: HE model 1938 or 1939 (130 g) with a 17/19B 1938 model fuse identified by a yellow band, HET identified by a yellow and a blue-grey band, AP (165 g) black projectile with a red band, APT with black nose and metal-grey-metal-red bands, AP/HE with red-yellow-green bands and HEI with red-yellow-blue bands.
This type of ammunition had not been sufficiently tested and caused several accidents during combat. The Dewoitines D.520 of the G.C.I/3 were specially affected, experiencing premature explosions within the barrel when firing the second burst. Between 5 and 8 June 1940 the M.S.406 of the G.C.I/6, G.C.II/2 and G.C.III/7 were used in ground attack task against the German tanks with AP and APT ammunition.
The manufacturing of the H.S. 404 was slow and costly. At the beginning of the war only 928 units had been delivered to l’Armée de l’Air and in March 1940 there were 2,319 units available.
The H.S. 404 was a formidable weapon when integrated in a Hispano-Suiza engine or installed in the nose of the twin engine Potez 631 fighters. However, it was less resilient when installed in the wings of the Bloch fighters, causing different problems of vibration, stoppage, freezing and dispersion of firing.
The H.S. 404 was acquired by the RAF and manufactured under license in the United Kingdom as Hispano-Suiza Mk I, Mk II and Mk V and as Hispano AN/M2 in the USA. A version over flexible mounting was also manufactured to be used by the rear gunners of the French medium bombers LeO 451 and Amiot 354.
Bibliography
Books
Green, W., Warplanes of the Second World War, FIGHTERS, Macdonald 1962.
Facon, P., L’Armée de l’Air dans la Tourmente, Economica 2005.
Comas, M., Le Morane-Saulnier 406, Lela presse 1998.
Cuny, J., Le Dewoitine D.520, Docavia Nº4, Ed. Larivière 1980.
Klein, B., Airplane Five Views, B.C.F.K. Publications 1974.
Marchand, P., Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406 C1, Les Ailes de Gloire Nº7, D’Along 2002.
Shores, C., Armée de l’Air, Squadron/Signal Publications 1976.
Ketley, B., French Aces of World War II, Osprey Publishing 2000.
Marchand, P., Les Moteurs à Piston Français, D’Along 2003.
Publications
Watteeuw, P., “Les Pertes de la Chasse de Jour Allemande en France 1939-45”, AVIONS, Hors Série Nº10 and 15, 2005.
Facon, P., “L’Armée de l’Air en 1939-1940”, Le Fana de l’Aviation, Hors Série Nº7, 1997.
Belcarz, B., “L’Armée de l’Air durant la Campagne de 1940”, Ciel de Guerre Nº8, 2010.
Breffort, D., “L’Armée de l’Air en 1939-1942”, Wing Masters, Hors Série Nº1, 1991.
Michulec, E., “Jagdwaffe en France”, Ciel de Guerre Nº8, 2011.
Correspondence with Paul Deweer, Jean Cuny and Bernhard Klein.
Finland (30 November 1939 to 4 September 1944)
On 30 November 1939, the Soviets attacked the Finland eastern border with 450,000 men (20 divisions), 2,000 tanks, 2,050 cannons and 3,250 aircraft from types Polikarpov I-152, I-153, I-16, R-5, R-Z and U-2, Tupolev SB-2M103 and TB-3, Ilyushin DB-3 M and Beriev MBR-2.
The Finnish Armed Forces had 327,000 men (5 divisions), 20 tanks, 425 cannons, 2 armored ships and 5 submarines. The Ilmavoimat strength was 135 aircrafts: thirty-six Fokker D.XXI, ten Bristol Bulldog Mk.IVA, seventeen Bristol Blenheim Mk.I, thirty-two Fokker C.X, seven Fokker C.VE, fourteen Blackburn Ripon IIF, four Junkers F.13, three de Havilland Moth, three V.L. Saaski and one V.L. Kotka.
The Finns fought fiercely, causing so many losses to the Soviets that they were forced to sign an armistice on 13 March 1940. The international community condemned the aggression by expelling the Soviet Union from the League of Nations on 14 December 1939 and offering military aid to Finland.
The Ilmavoimat received two-hundred-and-ten new planes: thirty Gloster Gladiator Mk.II, twenty-two Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV, thirty Morane-Saulnier M.S.406, thirty-two Fiat G.50, forty-four Brewster B-239, twenty-five Gloster Gauntlet Mk.II, ten Hawker Hurricane Mk.I, one Douglas DC-2, twelve Westland Lysander Mk.I, three Fokker C.V and one Fokker F.VIIa. Many of these models were technologically superior to the Soviets, as were the tactics used by the Finnish pilots, as proved in combat.
In December 1939 the Finnish fighters shot down 60 Soviet airplanes and the Ilmavoimat lost 14. In January 1940, the Soviets lost 53 aircraft in air-combat against 10 Finnish loses. In February, the Soviets changed their aerial tactics, using formations of up to 350 bombers and fighter escorts, to air support the land forces and bomb the population centres.
The Finnish fighters carried out 2,000 sorties and 300 aerial combats, shooting down 71 Soviet aircrafts. Nine others were shot down by Flygflottilj 19, Swedish volunteer air unit that operated in Northern Finland with twelve Gloster Gladiator Mk.I and five Hawker Hart. In March, the Ilmavoimat destroyed 20 more Soviet aircraft, losing 8 aircraft of their own.
Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406 C1 (486 kph)
Thirty units were donated by French government on February 1940. Twenty five ex-Armée de l'Air fighters were supplied by Germans on October 1940 and two more on October 1942. Between July and September 1942, another 30 aircraft were purchased from the Vichy government. The aircraft were delivered without the engine mounted cannon H.S. 404 and the Finns instead installed a 12.7 mm Berezin UB or a Colt M-2 heavy machine guns. They also replaced the two-wing mounted 7.5 mm MAC 34 A (drum feed) machine guns by two 7.7 mm (belt feed) Brownings and the Chauvière airscrew by a Hamilton Standard.
The engine was an 860 hp Hispano-Suiza H.S.12 Y-31.
Between 17 February 1940 and 12 July 1944, the Moranes shot down twenty SB-2M 103, fourteen I-153, twelve I-16, fourteen MiG-3, ten I-152, six Hurricane, five DB-3M, six Tomahawk, four Airacobra, five IL-2, four MBR-2, two LaGG-3, one La-5, three Pe-2, two R-5, one R-Z, one Boston, one Yak-9 and one U-2, fourteen of them during the Winter War.
Morane-Saulnier M.S. 410 C1 (509 kph)
Fifteen ex-Armée de l'Air units were supplied by Germany between July and November 1941.
Engine: one 860 hp Hispano-Suiza H.S.12 Y-31 driving one Ratier airscrew. Armament: five 7.5 mm (belt feed) MAC 34 M39 machine guns
Mörkö Moraani (525 kph)
Starting from June 1944, forty-one Moranes were re-engined with one 1,100 hp Klimov (Hispano-Suiza) M-105 P driving one VISh-61P constant speed airscrew.
Only three modified aircraft entered combat during the Continuation War, shooting down one La-5 and two Airacobra.
Armament: one engine mounted 20 mm MG 151 cannon and two wing-mounted 7.7 mm (belt feed) Browning machine guns.
Bibliography
BooksKeskinen, K., Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia LeR2, Edita OYJ, 2001.
Keskinen, K., Finnish Air Force 1939-1945, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1998.
Geust, K., Baltic Fleet Air Force in Winter War, Red Stars 5, Apali, 2004.
Geust, K., The Winter War in the Air, Red Stars 7, Apali, 2011.
Green, W., Warplanes of the Second World War, Fighters, Volume Four, MacDonald, 1961.
Luukkanen, E., Fighters Over Finland, MacDonald, 1963.
Keskinen, K., Suomalaiset Hävittäjät, Suomen Ilmavoimient Historia Nº14, 1990.
Comas, M., Le Morane-Saulnier M.S.406, Histoire de l’Aviation Nº5, Lela Presse, 1998.
Stenman, K., Finnish Air Aces of World War II, Osprey Aircraft Aces Nº23, 1988.
Keskinen, K., Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 18 LeR3, Uudenmaan Paino, 2001.
Publications
Partonen, K., “Mörkö-Moraani”, IPMS Mallari, 1984.
Good, M., “Un Fantôme Venu du Froid”, Wingmaster Magazine, Janvier 2000.
Stenman, K., “Le Morane Sort ses Griffes”, Le Fanatique de l’Aviation Nº 554, Janvier 2016.
Gréciet, V., “Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406 C1”, Aèrojournal Nº20.
Keskinen, K., “The Finnish Air Force in the Winter War”, SAFO, April 1990, Vol.14, Nº2.
Stenman, K., “Finland’s Fighter Finale”, Air Enthusiast/Twenty-Three.
Valtonen, H., “Guidebook”, Keski-Suomen Ilmailmuseo, 1999.
Correspondence with Hannu Valtonen, 1999.
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