|
Roy Maynard brought
in his latest acquisition, a Seagull
Models 1/3rd scale Morane-Saulnier A1. A
World War 1 Parasol monoplane fighter.
The Morane-Saulnier
A1 (MS A1) was a French parasol wing
fighter aircraft produced by Morane-Saulnier during
World War I.
The MS AI was the first
aircraft to be fitted with a fixed forward
firing machine gun, the world's first fighter,
which fired the weapon through the arc of the
propeller. It was also o ne of the world's first
bombers. During the first half of 1917, Robert
and Leon Morane with Raymond Saulnier presented
their newest fighter aircraft, the Morane
Saulnier AI to the French military for review.
It was favorably accepted by the French, and as
many as 1,210 were produced. It
entered service early in 1918 and the
new fighter was popular with its pilots,
who liked its speed and maneuverabil ity.
Despite the fact that the Morane’s
flight characteristics were well liked
by many pilots, the duration of its
active combat service was limited to a
mere three months. It was
withdrawn from combat as a result of
unproven but alleged structural failures
and reliability problems with the 160 hp
Gnome engine. Many remaining
aircraft of this type were refitted with
smaller, more reliable powerplants and
used as advanced trainers for the
duration of the war, and post WWI as
well.
Roy tells us there
have been 2 different 1/3 scale Morane
Saulnier A1 models available, a kit from
balsa USA and this ARF from Seagull
Models. The model had originally
been built by a modeler but not flown,
and subsequently sold to a hobby store
in Illinois. The model was
acquired sight unseen.
The model was
delivered with a Spektrum Avian motor
equivalent to a 50cc gas engine with a
matc hing
120 amp speed controller installed.
The prop is a 24x10 Xoar electric prop.
High voltage HITEC servos (180 oz at
7.4volts) are mounted for the control
surfaces.
The ‘PRO’s” on this
model include a nice standoff scale
appearance and high quality Spektrum
motor and speed controller. The
complex cabane and wing struts seem very
strong to support the center wing and
outboard wings. Online videos of
this mod el
appear to show excellent flying
qualities with its 103” (2.6 meter)
wingspan and estimated flying weight of
25-30 lbs (12-14 kg). Power will
be provided by two 6S lipo batteries in
series (12S going to motor). The
model will be guided by a JETI
transmitter and Demon Cortex gyro and
will be flying this Spring.
The “CON’s” include
a less than optimum assembly by the
original owner with multiple spills of
cyanoacrylate glue on the model
including the machine guns, one of which
was broken. One of th ese
spills damaged the tan shrink covering
on the right horizontal stab. By
pure chance, the exact replacement
covering film was acquired from China
thru AliExpressUS. The "Chinakote"
camouflage covering is apparently laser
cut to shape and applied at the factory
in Vietnam. The entire model when
completed at the factory is sprayed with
a matte clear. The kit uses
cyanoacrylate plastic hinges for the
control surfaces. My preference
would have been to use conventional
nylon hinges. Close monitoring will be
used to look for any fatigue developing
in the hinges. The pilot that came
with the kit was of poor quality and
weighed 12 ounces (165g). This was
replaced with a bust from "Aces of Iron"
that I painted and weighs 6 oz (80g). |
