Morane Saulnier Type G
Model Airplane News Cover Art for April, 1965
by Jo Kotula
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Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier is a French aircraft manufacturer formed by Raymond Saulnier(1881-1964) and the Morane Brothers Leon(1885-1918) and Robert(1886-1968) in October 1911. The company was taken over and diversified in the 1960s.

     

Morane Saulnier Type G
The drawing makes more sense if you can read Russian...
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The Morane-Saulnier Type G was a sport aircraft produced in France in the years before the First World War. It was a conventional, wire-braced, shoulder-wing design. Construction was of fabric-covered wood throughout, except for the undercarriage struts which were of steel tube.

  

Morane Saulnier Type G Floatplane Version
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The type was a sporting success. In April 1913, Roland Garros took second place in the inaugural Schneider Cup in a floatplane versions. In June, Claude Grahame-White flew another float-equipped example from Paris to London via Le Havre, Boulogne-sur-Mer, and Dover, covering some 300 miles in a day. In September, two float-equipped Type Gs competed at the seaplane meeting at San Sebastián, with Lord Carbery winning the short take-off prize on one, and Edmond Audemars winning the maneuverability prize on the other. The following week, Carbery flew his Type G in the Italian Waterplane Contest from Lake Como to Pavia and back, along with two other Type Gs in the field of fifteen competitors, these flown by Garros and Morane. Garros not only won the Grand Prize in the "general class", but also the prizes for best speed (79.8 mph) and greatest altitude (6,000 ft).

In 1914, Russian manufacturer Duks arranged to build the type under licence at their Moscow factory for the Russian Army, and the same year, the Turkish military ordered 40 examples. Before these could be delivered, however, war broke out, and the aircraft were impressed into the French Army. To these, the Army soon added an order of 94 aircraft, and the British Royal Flying Corps also acquired a number, these latter machines purchased from Grahame-White, who was manufacturing the type in the UK under licence. At the outbreak of war, the type's military value was found to be wanting, and the French machines were quickly relegated to training duties.

Here is a video of a replica of the Morane Saulnier Type G :

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