Morane-Saulnier BB

The Morane-Saulnier BB was a military observation aircraft produced in France during World War I for use by Britain's Royal Flying Corps. It was a conventional single-bay biplane design with seating for the pilot and observer in tandem, open cockpits. The original order called for 150 aircraft powered by 110-hp Le Rhône 9J rotary engines, but shortages meant that most of the 94 aircraft eventually built were delivered with 80 hp Le Rhône 9C rotaries instead. A water-cooled Hispano-Suiza 8A engine was trialled as an alternative in the Type BH, but this remained experimental only. A production licence was sold to the Spanish company Compañía Española de Construcciones Aeronáuticas (CECA), which built twelve fitted with Hispano-Suiza engines in 1916.

Type BB, Type BH
RFC Morane-Saulnier BB
Role	Observation aircraft
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Morane-Saulnier
First flight	1915
Status	retired
Primary user	Royal Flying Corps
Number built	107

Captured Morane-Saulnier BB

Operational history

The type equipped a number of RFC and RNAS squadrons both in its original observation role and, equipped with a forward-firing Lewis gun mounted on the top wing, as a fighter.

Variants

MS.7

official French government STAe designation for the BB

MS.8

official French government STAe designation for the BH

BB

Le Rhône 9J rotary powered variant

BH

Hispano-Suiza 8A V-8 powered variant

CECA-MS or CECA-Saulnier

designations used for BB/BH built in Spain

Operators

United Kingdom

• Royal Flying Corps
  • No. 1 Squadron RFC
  • No. 3 Squadron RFC
  • No. 12 Squadron RFC
  • No. 60 Squadron RFC
• Royal Naval Air Service
  • No. 1 Squadron RNAS
  • No. 3 Squadron RNAS
  • No. 4 Squadron RNAS

Spain

• Spanish Air Force

Russia

• Imperial Russian Air Service

Specifications (BB)

Data from Parmentier

General characteristics

• Crew: Two, pilot and observer
• Length: 7.00 m (23 ft 0 in)
• Wingspan: 8.65 m (28 ft 5 in)
• Height: 2.54 m (8 ft 4 in)
• Wing area: 23.0 m² (247 sq ft)
• Gross weight: 750 kg (1,650 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Le Rhône 9Ja , 82 kW (110 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 147 km/h (92 mph, 80 kn)
• Service ceiling: 4,000 m (13,000 ft)

Armament

• 1 × flexible, rearward-firing .303 Lewis gun for observer

References

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. London: Aerospace Publishing.
• Bruce, J.M. (1982). The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-30084-X.
• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
• Parmentier, Bruno. "Morane-Saulnier BB". Aviafrance - Un siècle d'aviation française. Retrieved 2008-11-07.

Further reading

• Lacaze, Henri & Lherbert, Claude (2013). Morane Saulnier: ses avions, ses projets [Morane Saulnier: Their Aircraft and Projects] (in French). Outreau, France: Lela Presse. ISBN 978-2-914017-70-1.