Morane-Saulnier Type N "Bullet"
The Type N "Bullet" was a mid-wing monoplane, which became the first French fighter aircraft. Due to the shortage of decent fighting scouts from England, the British also used the "Bullet". The type N was fitted with a fixed Hotchkiss machinegun, but without a synchronization gear, as the Allies had not developed it yet. Instead the Bullet used metal bullet deflectors on the propellor blades instead, as pioneered by Roland Garros on a type L. However, this development was not very successful, as the impacts of the bullets on the deflectors could still shatter the propellor or weaken the motor mount, with disastrous results. Also, there were occasional rebounds of the bullets back at the pilot. While there was no indication that any pilot was killed from this, it was none-the-less a frightening situation. The Type N was less popular than the Type L "Parasol" monoplanes. The Type N did not fair very well against the Fokker Eindecker. Only some 49 were built in 1917. Aircraft development proceeded so fast that most planes were nearly obsolete when they reached the fighting squadrons at the front.
Technical Details
It was powered by the 110hp Le Rhone 9J rotary, air-cooled engine. This gave it a speed of 165km/h, a ceiling of 4000m and a n endurance of 1h 30m. It was armed with a single forward firing Hotchkiss machine gun using bullet deflectors on the propellor blades.
Canadian Aces Home Page
Image From:
Apostolo and Begnozzi. Color Profiles of World War I Combat Planes.