Country of origin:

France

Description:

Two-seat light monoplane

Power Plant:

One 60 kw (80 Hp) Gnome seven-cylinder air-cooled rotary engine

Specifications:

Armament:

Normally not installed but one aircraft experimentally fitted with a fixed 8 mm (0.314 in) Hotchkiss machine gun with bullet deflectors for propeller.

History:

The Societe Anonyme des Aeroplanes Morane-Borel-Saulnier was founded in 1911 and commenced the construction of aircraft, one of the first, the Morane-Borel monoplane, making a flight from Paris to Madrid from 21 to 26 May that year.  At the Paris Salon that year the Company exhibited four new aircraft. In 1912 Roland Garros joined the company as a pilot. Development of a number of designs produced very successful aircraft leading to further long-range flights, one being from St Raphael in the south of France to Bizerte in North Africa on 23 September 1913.

In 1913 the Types G and H appeared and, although they looked very similar, the Type G was a two-seater with the pilot and passenger seated in tandem on a single elongated seat whereas the Type H was a single-seater and had slightly smaller dimensions. The two types were flown by many of the leading pilots of the time. Claude Graham-White acquired a licence to build the Type G in the United Kingdom and production commenced at Hendon prior to World War I. At least 94 examples are known to have been completed including a number of floatplanes. None are known to have taken part in what could be described as fighting duties. A few examples saw service with the Royal Flying Corps and reports indicate production of the Types G and H continued in the United Kingdom to 1915.

Two engines were usually installed, either the 45 kw (60 hp) Le Rhone with which it became known as the Type GA, or the 60 kw (80 hp) variant with which it became known as the Type GB. These two models appeared in 1912. One Type G was used as a seaplane racing aircraft at Monaco. Examples were operated by other countries, two going to Argentina in 1912 and two to Denmark in 1915. The type was licence built by Thulin in Sweden and was known as the Thulin B, and examples were operated by the Imperial Russian Air Service. The latter aircraft were in two forms, one with a 9.3 m (30 ft 5 in) wingspan and the other with a 10.2 (33 ft 5 in) wingspan and had 60 kw (80-hp) Le Rhone engine. A few also saw service in Spain and Switzerland.

Most operators used the Type G in the unarmed reconnaissance role but a few Russian pilots were successful in ramming attacks, one in particular being Alexander Kazakov. After completion of operational service they were used for training and fitted with a nosewheel to prevent nosing over. Some were fitted with a 26 kw (35 hp) Anzani engine for taxiing training. The WR variant of the Type G was built for the Russian Navy and one had a 75 kw (100 hp) Gnome Monosoupape engine and set a Russian altitude record of 5,200 m (17,060 ft). A couple survived until late 1933.

At Omaka on the south Island of New Zealand a team of artisans has built a replica of a Morane Saulnier Type G, this aircraft after completion being painted in the colours of an aircraft flown by Alexander Kozakov, the most successful World War I Russian fighter pilot, and on 4 July 2012 it was placed on display at the Omaka Heritage Centre.