|
|
The Morane-Saulnier M.S.435 P.2 was a two-man advanced trainer based on the M.S.405 single seat fighter that was ordered into production in 1939 but that wasn't delivered before the fall of France.
The M.S.435 began life as the M.S.430 in 1937. This was a two-man trainer produced by expanding the fuselage of the M.S.405 and giving it a 390hp Salmson 9Ag radial engine. The M.S.430 made its maiden flight on 3 March 1937 and its performance was encouraging enough to allow development to continue. A single-seat version was evaluated as the M.S.408. At the same time work began on the M.S.433, a two-seater that would have been powered by the Gnome-Rhône 7Kfs radial engine.
The M.S.433 was cancelled in favour of the M.S.435. This was also to use a Gnome-Rhône engine, this time the 550hp 9Kdrs radial engine. The M.S.435 also had a redesigned fuselage with a bigger cross section, but it was otherwise similar to the M.S.430. It was a low-wing single-engined monoplane, with a crew of two carried under a continuous glazed canopy and with inward retracting landing gear.
In the summer of 1939 the French Air Ministry placed an order for sixty series aircraft as the M.S.435 P.2 (advanced trainer, two man). The prototype M.S.435.01 made its maiden flight on 6 December 1939, but the M.S.435 had a lower production priority than the M.S.406 fighter, which was seen as essential equipment. As a result none of the production aircraft had been delivered before the fall of France in June 1940.
Engine: Gnome-Rhône 9Kdrs
Power: 550hp
Wing Span: 35ft 1 3/4in
Top Speed: 245mph