Morane-Saulnier BB

The Morane-Saulnier BB was a military observation aircraft produced in France during World War I for use by Britain's Royal Flying Corps. It was a conventional single-bay biplane design with seating for the pilot and observer in tandem, open cockpits. The original order called for 150 aircraft powered by 110-hp Le Rhône 9J rotary engines, but shortages meant that most of the 94 aircraft eventually built were delivered with 80 hp Le Rhône 9C rotaries instead. A water-cooled Hispano-Suiza 8A engine was trialled as an alternative in the Type BH, but this remained experimental only. A production licence was sold to the Spanish company Compañía Española de Construcciones Aeronáuticas (CECA), which built twelve fitted with Hispano-Suiza engines in 1916.

Operational history
The type equipped a number of RFC and RNAS squadrons both in its original observation role and, equipped with a forward-firing Lewis gun mounted on the top wing, as a fighter.

Variants

 * MS.7 :official French government STAe designation for the BB
 * MS.8 :official French government STAe designation for the BH
 * BB :Le Rhône 9J rotary powered variant
 * BH :Hispano-Suiza 8A V-8 powered variant
 * CECA-MS or CECA-Saulnier : designations used for BB/BH built in Spain

Operators

 * Royal Flying Corps
 * No. 1 Squadron RFC
 * No. 3 Squadron RFC
 * No. 12 Squadron RFC
 * No. 60 Squadron RFC
 * Royal Naval Air Service
 * No. 1 Squadron RNAS
 * No. 3 Squadron RNAS
 * No. 4 Squadron RNAS
 * Spanish Air Force
 * Imperial Russian Air Service
 * Spanish Air Force
 * Imperial Russian Air Service
 * Imperial Russian Air Service