Morane-Saulnier AI

The Morane-Saulnier AI, also designated MoS.27, MoS.29 and MoS.30, was a French parasol-wing fighter built by Morane-Saulnier during the First World War. It evolved from the Type N by way of the AC but with a parasol wing, a rigidly braced two-spar wing with horn-balanced ailerons and a Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine in a tight circular cowling. It was ordered as a back-up in case the SPAD XIII's engine problems were not solved. It was briefly operated by French escadrilles from February 1918 but was withdrawn by mid-May because of structural problems, and after the fault was cured it returned as an advanced trainer, the MoS 30 E.1, of which 51 were bought by the American Expeditionary Force. Many were sold off after the war as aerobatic aircraft, including one flown by Charles Nungesser on a United States tour.