Morane-Saulnier AN

The Morane-Saulnier AN, also designated MoS.31 C.2, was a French two-seat fighter prototype completed in late 1918. It was a large two-bay biplane with wings of equal span and a monocoque fuselage, designed around an unorthodox Bugatti U-16 sixteen-cylinder water-cooled engine of about 450 horsepower, with a radiator in the leading edge of the wing. First tested in late October 1918, it was bested by the SEA 4 and the Breguet 17 it was competing against, particularly in rate of climb, yet it showed enough promise that several variants followed, among them the ANB with a Lamblin radiator, the ANL with a Liberty L-12 engine, the ANR with a Renault engine and a rear-mounted gun, and the ANS with a 530 horsepower Salmson radial. It was ordered into production but never entered service, because the SEA and Breguet types were already reaching the front and the end of the First World War ended the requirement.