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1/72-SCALE MORANE-SAULNIER Ms406C-1 WW2 FRENCH AdA FIGHTER FINLAND SWISS KIT
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Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia
The Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 was
a French French Air Force fighter aircraft built by Morane-Saulnier starting in
1938. Numerically, it was France's most important fighter during the opening
stages of World War II.
Although sturdy and highly
maneuverable, it was underpowered and weakly armed when compared to its
contemporaries. Most critically, it was outperformed by the Messerschmitt Bf
109E during the Battle of France. The M.S.406 held its own in the early stages
of the war (the so-called Phoney War), but when the war restarted in earnest in
1940, losses to all causes amounted to approximately 400 aircraft. Out of this
total some 150 were lost to enemy fighters and ground fire, another 100 were
destroyed on the ground in enemy air raids and the remainder was deliberately
destroyed by French military personnel to prevent the fighters from falling
into enemy hands intact. In return M.S.406 squadrons achieved 191 confirmed
victories and another 83 probable victories. The type was more successful in
the hands of Finnish and Swiss air forces who developed indigenous models.
The result of these changes was
the M.S.406. The two main changes were the inclusion of a new wing structure
which saved weight, and a retractable radiator under the fuselage. Powered by
the production 641.3 kW (860 hp) HS 12Y-31 engine, the new design was over 8
km/h (5 mph) faster than the 405, at 489 km/h (304 mph). Armament consisted of
a 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano-Suiza HS.9 or 404 cannon with 60 rounds in the V of
the engine and fired through the propeller hub, and two 7.5 mm (0.295 in) MAC
1934 machine guns (one in each wing, each with 300 rounds). A weakness of the
MAC 1934 was its operation at high altitudes. It was found that at altitudes
over 20,000 ft, the guns had a tendency to freeze. Heaters were added to the
guns for high-altitude use.
In 1938, Switzerland obtained a
license for local production of the MS.406. Two MS.406H fighters were supplied
to Switzerland in September 1938 and April 1939 to serve as pattern aircraft as
the D-3800, retaining the earlier wing design of the 405, but powered by the
newer Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 engines as used by the MS.406.
Pre-production started with a
run of eight aircraft from EKW with engines built by Adolph Saurer AG driving a
new Escher-Wyss EW-V3 fully adjustable propeller. Instruments were replaced
with Swiss versions and the drum-fed MAC machine guns with locally designed and
built belt-fed guns, so eliminating the wing-bulges of the French version, and
avoiding the freezing problems encountered by French guns. The first of these aircraft
was completed in November 1939. The pre-production models were then followed
with an order for a further 74 examples, which were all delivered by 29 August
1940. In 1942, a further two were assembled with spares originally set aside
for the original production run.
During 1944, surviving aircraft
were modified with new cooling and hydraulic installations, and were fitted
with ejector exhausts. These modifications were the same standard as the D-3801
series, making them identical with the exception of the engine installation. At
the end of the war the remaining aircraft were used as trainers, until the last
one was scrapped in 1954.
France sent 30 Morane-Saulnier
to Finland, between 4 and 29 February 1940. By 1943 the Finns had received an
additional 46 M.S.406s and 11 M.S.410s purchased from the Germans. By this
point, the fighters were hopelessly outdated, but the Finns were so desperate
for serviceable aircraft that they decided to start a modification program to
bring all of their examples to a new standard.
The aircraft designer Aarne
Lakomaa turned the obsolete "M-S" into a first-rate fighter, the
Mörkö-Morane (Finnish for Bogey or Ogre Morane), sometimes referred to as the
"LaGG-Morane". Powered by captured Klimov M-105P engines (a licensed
version of the HS 12Y) of 820.3 kW (1,100 hp) with a fully adjustable
propeller, the airframe required some local strengthening and also gained a new
and more aerodynamic engine cowling. These changes boosted the speed to 525
kilometres per hour (326 mph). Other changes included a new oil cooler taken
from the Bf 109, the use of four belt-fed guns like the M.S.410, and the
excellent 20 mm (0.787 in) MG 151/20 cannon in the engine mounting. However,
supplies of the MG 151 were limited, and several received captured 12.7 mm
(0.500 in) Berezin UBS guns instead.
The first example of the
modified fighter, MS-631, made its first flight on 25 January 1943, and the
results were startling: the aircraft was 64 kilometres per hour (40 mph) faster
than the original French version, and the service ceiling was increased from
10,00012,000 metres (33,00039,000 ft).
Originally, it was planned to
convert all the 41 remaining M.S.406s and M.S.410s with the Soviet engine, but
it took time, and the first front-line aircraft of this type did not reach LeLv
28 until July/August 1944. By the end of the Continuation War in 1944, only
three examples had been converted (including the original prototype).
Lieutenant Lars Hattinen (an ace with six victories) scored three kills with
the Mörkö-Morane, one with each Mörkö-Morane in the squadron. More fighters
arrived from the factory, though, and the Mörkö-Moranes took part in the
Lapland War as reconnaissance and ground attack aircraft. Not all the
Mörkö-Morane conversions were completed before March 1945, when the entire
re-engining programme was halted. After the end of the war, the total was
brought to 41, which served as advanced trainers with TLeLv 14 until September
1948. In 1952 all remaining Finnish Moranes were scrapped.
In the late 1930s, a war with
Germany was clearly looming, and the French Air Force placed an order for 1,000
airframes in March 1938. Morane-Saulnier was unable to produce anywhere near
this number at their own factory, so a second line was set up at the
nationalized factories of SNCAO at St. Nazaire converted to produce the type.
Production began in late 1938, and the first production example flew on 29
January 1939. Deliveries were hampered more by the slow deliveries of the
engines than by lack of airframes.
By April 1939, the production
lines were delivering six aircraft a day, and when the war opened on 3
September 1939, production was at 11 a day with 535 in service. Production of
the M.S.406 ended in March 1940, after the original order for 1,000 had been
delivered to the French Air Force, and a further 77 for foreign users (30 for
Finland and 45 for Turkey). Additional orders for Lithuania and Poland were
canceled with the outbreak of the war.
The MS 406 equipped 16 Groupes
de Chasse and three Escadrilles in France and overseas, and 12 of the Groupes
saw action against the Luftwaffe. The aircraft was very manoeuvrable and could
withstand heavy battle damage, but was outclassed by the Bf 109 and losses were
heavy (150 aircraft lost in action and 250300 lost through other causes).
After the armistice, only one Vichy unit, GC. 1/7, was equipped with the MS.
406.
Germany took possession of a
large number of M.S.406s and the later M.S.410s. The Luftwaffe used a number
for training, and sold off others. Finland purchased additional M.S.406s (as
well as a few 406/410 hybrids) from the Germans, while others were passed off
to Italy and some 48 to the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia in
1943. Those still in French hands saw action in Syria against the RAF, and on
Madagascar against the Fleet Air Arm. Both Switzerland and Turkey also operated
the type; the Swiss actually downed a number of both German and Allied
aircraft, 194445.
Before the Pacific campaign
proper, Vichy authorities in French Indochina were engaged in a frontier war
against Thailand, during 194041. A number of M.S.406s stationed in Indochina
downed Thai fighters before the French Air Force abandoned the theatre. Some
examples of the M.S.406 were captured by the Thai Air Force.
The M.S.406 had a parallel
career in Finland. In February 1940, the first 30 French fighters were
allocated to LeLv 28, commanded by Major Jusu. These aircraft received the
Finnish designations MS-301 to MS-330. They were used in combat during the
Winter War, against the USSR and carried out 259 operational sorties and shot
down 16 Soviet aircraft. In modified form, the M.S.406 were later involved in
the Continuation War. Between November 1939 and 4 September 1944, Lv28 scored
118 aerial victories flying the Morane M.S.406 (the unit flew Bf 109Gs for a
time, as well). The unit lost 15 aircraft. Total Finnish kills were 121. The
top Morane ace in all theatres was W/O Urho Lehtovaara, with 15 of his 44.5
total kills achieved in Moranes. The Finnish nicknames were Murjaani
("moor" or "Negro"), a twist on its name, and Mätimaha
(roe-belly) and Riippuvatsa (hanging belly) because of its bulged ventral
fuselage.
In 1938, Switzerland obtained a
license for local production of the MS.406. Two MS.406H fighters were supplied
to Switzerland in September 1938 and April 1939 to serve as pattern aircraft as
the D-3800, retaining the earlier wing design of the 405, but powered by the
newer Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 engines as used by the MS.406.
Pre-production started with a
run of eight aircraft from EKW with engines built by Adolph Saurer AG driving a
new Escher-Wyss EW-V3 fully adjustable propeller. Instruments were replaced
with Swiss versions and the drum-fed MAC machine guns with locally designed and
built belt-fed guns, eliminating the wing-bulges of the French version, and
avoiding the freezing problems encountered by French guns. The first of these
aircraft was completed in November 1939. The pre-production models were then
followed with an order for a further 74 examples, which were all delivered by
29 August 1940. In 1942, a further two were assembled with spares originally
set aside for the original production run.[31][32][33]
During 1944, surviving aircraft
were modified with new cooling and hydraulic installations, and were fitted
with ejector exhausts. These modifications were the same standard as the D-3801
series, making them identical with the exception of the engine installation. At
the end of the war the remaining aircraft were used as trainers, until the last
one was scrapped in 1954.[34]
D.3801/3803[edit]
The Swiss continued development
of the MS.412 when French involvement stopped following the June 1940
Armistice. The Dornier-Altenrhein factory completed a prototype powered with a
licensed-produced HS-51 12Y engine, generating 790.4 kW (1,060 hp) together
with the fixed radiator and revised exhausts as tested on the MS.411, in
October 1940.[4] The new type retained the armament changes and other
improvements introduced on the D.3800.[35][36] This series was put into
production in 1941 as the D-3801 with continued deliveries until 1945 with 207
completed. Another 17 were built from spares between 1947 and 1948.[35]
Reliability of the new engine was at first extremely poor, with problems with
crankshaft bearings causing several accidents. The engine problems slowed
deliveries, with only 16 aircraft produced in 1942 and a single aircraft
delivered in 1943. The engine problems were eventually resolved in 1944.[36]
With 790.4 kW (1,060 hp) from the Hispano-Suiza 12Y-51, the speed was boosted
to 534 km/h (332 mph), roughly equivalent to the D.520 or the Hurricane.
Weights were between 2,1242,725 kg (4,6836,008 lb). After being retired from
operational use as a fighter when the North American P-51 Mustang was acquired
in 1948, the type remained in service as a trainer and target tug until 1959.
The D.3802 was based on the
MS.450, emerging as the MS.540, with a Saurer YS-2 932.1 kW (1,250 hp) engine.
The prototype flew in the autumn of 1944, revealing several shortcomings, but
it was capable of 630 km/h (391 mph; 340 kn). 12 were produced seeing limited
use with Fliegerstaffel 17 and some other units.
The last development of this
aircraft was the D.3803, with 1,118.5 kW (1,500 hp) Saurer YS-3 engine, and
modified dorsal fuselage (with an all-round visibility canopy). The D.3803 was
armed with three HS-404 20 mm (0.787 in) cannon (one in the nose, two in the
wings), plus up to 200 kg (441 lb) bombs and rockets. Despite not having a
powerful engine, the type reached 680 km/h (423 mph; 367 kn) at 7,000 m (22,966
ft). The performance was impressive, but the last development of this 1935
fighter design had several shortcomings and was not entirely successful. Its
development was halted as P-51D Mustangs became available.
China - Nationalist Chinese Air
Force ordered 12 aircraft in 1938 and they were shipped to Haiphong, but
diverted to Escadrille EC 2, which fought against the Japanese and Thai in
December 1940[4] One or two aircraft may have reached the Chinese Air Force
Independent State of Croatia -
Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Drave Hrvatske received 48 aircraft.
Finland - Ilmavoimat received 76
M.S.406 and 11 M.S.410
France - French Air Force Armme
de lAir & French Navy Aeronavale
Vichy France - Vichy French Air
Force
Germany Luftwaffe operated
captured aircraft.
Italy - Regia Aeronautica
Lithuania - Lithuanian Air Force
ordered 13 Moranes, but none were delivered.
Poland - Polish Air Force
ordered 160 aircraft, but none were delivered due to the fall of Poland. Polish
Air Force in exile in France operated at least 91 aircraft in several training
and combat units:
Groupe de Chasse de Varsovie
Section no.1 Łaszkiewicz GC
III/2
Section no.2 Pentz GC II/6
Section no.3 Sulerzycki GC III/6
Section no.4 Bursztyn GC III/1
Section no.5 Brzeziński GC I/2
Section no.6 Goettel GC II/7
Jasionowski Koolhoven Flight
DAT section Krasnodębski GC I/55
based at Châteaudun and Étampes
DAT section Skiba GC I/55
DAT section Kuzian based at
Nantes
DAT section Opulski based at
Romorantin
DAT section Krasnodębski based
at Toulouse-Francazal
Centre d'Instruction d'Aviation
de Chasse at Montpellier
Ecole de Pilotage No 1 (Chasse)
at Etampes
Ecole de Pilotage at Avord
Centre d'Instruction at Tours
Depot d'Instruction de
l'Aviation Polonaise at Lyon-Bron
Montpellier Flight
Switzerland - Swiss Air Force
Turkey - Turkish Air Force
received 45 Moranes. At least 30 of them were originally intended for shipment
to Poland and had Polish stencilling.
Thailand - Royal Thai Air Force
operated several captured aircraft.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia - Royal
Yugoslav Air Force ordered 25 aircraft, but the fall of France precluded their
delivery