Five Morane-Saulnier aircraft classified as historic monuments

This ranking comes a hundred years after the firm was founded by two aviation pioneers, the brothers Léon and Robert Morane, who were associated with engineer Raymond Saulnier. It commemorates the longevity of a manufacturer who contributed to the great adventure of French aeronautics and confirms the recognition of a heritage essential for the history of know-how of excellence and industrial techniques.

The five classified aircraft are:

• the Morane “AI”, High-wing monoplane fighter of 1918, built, all versions combined, 1200 copies. A highly manoeuvring aircraft, it was the «mount» of Charles Nungesser, a French ace in the 43 victories of the First World War which disappeared during an attempt to cross the Atlantic in 1927. That same year, Alfred Fronval, Charles Robin and Jean-Baptiste Salis formed the world’s first acrobatic patrol, the "Patrouille tricolore", made up of three "Morane AI" bound together by a ribbon of national colours.

• the Morane-Saulnier 185, known as "Avionnette Morane", is a small single-seater with a fixed gear, robust, light and economical, powered by a 45 hp engine. Produced since 1930, «avionnette» is aimed at a clientele of aviation enthusiasts or businessmen anxious to show their taste for modernity.

• the Morane-Saulnier 341, built from 1934, is a two-seater aerobatic training. A monoplane with parasol wing, it is equipped with a small Renault 4-cylinder in-line engine of 140 hp which gives it a maximum speed of 200 km/h. Between the two wars, the MS 341 was the preferred aircraft of the first French women pilots: Maryse Bastié (1898- 1952), Maryse Hilsz (1903- 1946) and Hélène Boucher (1908- 1934) who appreciated its speed and handling.

• the Morane-Saulnier 230 is a mythical plane from the interwar period. It is a two-seater, single-plane parasol wing and fixed landing gear training device, built from 1930 to more than 1100 copies on behalf of military aviation and foreign air forces. A multi-purpose aircraft, the MS 230 will also be used for liaison, fire training or photo recognition. Its manoeuvrability, equivalent to the other «Morane» models, also makes it a popular aerobatic aircraft with Hélène Boucher, Michel Détroyat and Alfred Fronval. The last MS 230 flew in 1946.
• The Morane-Saulnier 500 called “Cricket” is the version produced in France during the occupation of the German Fieseler FI 156 "Storch" short takeoff reconnaissance and liaison aircraft. More than a thousand locusts were produced from 1943 to 1965. They served in the Air Force, above the «Poche de Royan» and then in Indochina and Algeria before being bought by private individuals. A «Cricket» with German colours is the unfortunate hero of the final scene of Gérard Oury’s famous film «La Grande Vadrouille» (1966).

In addition to the five aircraft already classified as historical monuments, the classification of these five new aircraft completes the corpus This brings the total to 12 aircraft (10 classified and 2 listed as historical monuments).

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Orly airport, it reflects the attention of the Ministry of Culture and Communication for the scientific and technical heritages of the twentieth century that have shaped the culture and imagination of contemporaries.

This ranking comes a hundred years after the firm was founded by two aviation pioneers, the brothers Léon and Robert Morane, who were associated with engineer Raymond Saulnier. It commemorates the longevity of a manufacturer who contributed to the great adventure of French aeronautics and confirms the recognition of a heritage essential for the history of know-how of excellence and industrial techniques.

The five classified aircraft are:

• the Morane “AI”, High-wing monoplane fighter of 1918, built, all versions combined, 1200 copies. A highly manoeuvring aircraft, it was the «mount» of Charles Nungesser, a French ace in the 43 victories of the First World War which disappeared during an attempt to cross the Atlantic in 1927. That same year, Alfred Fronval, Charles Robin and Jean-Baptiste Salis formed the world’s first acrobatic patrol, the "Patrouille tricolore", made up of three "Morane AI" bound together by a ribbon of national colours.

• the Morane-Saulnier 185, known as "Avionnette Morane", is a small single-seater with a fixed gear, robust, light and economical, powered by a 45 hp engine. Produced since 1930, «avionnette» is aimed at a clientele of aviation enthusiasts or businessmen anxious to show their taste for modernity.

• the Morane-Saulnier 341, built from 1934, is a two-seater aerobatic training. A monoplane with parasol wing, it is equipped with a small Renault 4-cylinder in-line engine of 140 hp which gives it a maximum speed of 200 km/h. Between the two wars, the MS 341 was the preferred aircraft of the first French women pilots: Maryse Bastié (1898- 1952), Maryse Hilsz (1903- 1946) and Hélène Boucher (1908- 1934) who appreciated its speed and handling.

• the Morane-Saulnier 230 is a mythical plane from the interwar period. It is a two-seater, single-plane parasol wing and fixed landing gear training device, built from 1930 to more than 1100 copies on behalf of military aviation and foreign air forces.