Held at:	Internet
Reference:	RS
Source:	Internet Research
Title:	Morane Saulnier aircraft, as flown by Randolph Trafford
Place name:	Michaelchurch Escley
Date:	1913

Description:

Randolph Trafford of Michaelchurch Court learned to fly in Switzerland during the 1920’s on a French-built Morane Saulnier parasol monoplane of the type illustrated and described below. He subsequently flew the aeroplane from Switzerland to the aerodrome at Michaelchurch Escley, which was the first civil airfield in Herefordshire.

Morane-Saulnier Type L, 1913
http://www.wwiaviation.com/french1914.html

A " parasol" monoplane, the Morane Type L was a fragile two-seat reconnaissance aircraft. It was the first aircraft armed with a fixed machine gun that fired through the propeller arc.

Garros deflector system

Bullets which struck the propeller were deflected by steel plates. Armed with a Hotchkiss machine gun firing 8 mm solid copper bullets, Roland Garros tested the design in April 1915. He scored three victories in three weeks before the plane was captured by the Germans [hence the German markings on the tail in the photograph below].

Type L

Function: Fighter Reconnaissance
First Introduced : 1913
Number Built : 600
Engine : Gnome, rotary, 80 hp
Wing Span : 36 ft 9 in 11.2 m
Length : 22 ft 63/4 in 6.88 m
Height : 12 ft 101/2 in 3.93 m
Empty Weight : 385 kg
Gross Weight : 1,441 lb 655 kg
Max Speed : 71.5 mph 115 kmh
Ceiling : 13,123 ft 4000 m
Endurance : 21/2 hours
Crew : 1 or 2
Armament : 1 machine gun

Morane-Saulnier Type L

Morane-Saulnier Type P, 1914
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_P/  

The Type P was a development of the Type L parasol-wing monoplane. 565 built. There were also two single-seat fighter versions, one with the standard parasol wing and one with the wing lowered to the top of the fuselage.

Type P
Function: reconnaissance
Year: 1914
Crew: 2
Engines: 1 * 110hp Le Rhone 9J rotary engine
Wing Span: 11.20m
Length: 7.2m
Height: 3.47m
Wing Area:
Empty Weight:
Max.Weight: 732kg
Speed: 156km/h
Ceiling: 4876m
Range: 2h 30m
Armament: 1-2*machine guns 7.7mm

Morane-Saulnier Type P

Morane-Saulnier Type P

Observations:

None