Morane-Saulnier AC

The Morane-Saulnier AC, also known as the Type AC and the MoS 23, was a French single-seat fighter of 1916. It was conceived in mid-1916 and derived from the Type N by way of the unbuilt Type U. Unlike earlier single-seat Morane-Saulnier aircraft it used ailerons for lateral control instead of wing warping, and its rigid wing bracing was a wire-braced truss of steel tubes supporting the wings from below. It appeared in the autumn of that year and proved aerodynamically clean, and thirty were ordered for the Aviation Militaire after initial testing. Although of advanced design and good performance it was judged inferior to the SPAD S.VII and was not adopted in quantity, although two examples were supplied to the Royal Flying Corps for evaluation.