Morane-Saulnier M.S.472 Vanneau II

The Morane-Saulnier M.S.472 Vanneau II (Plover) was the first production version of the Veaneau and was a two-seat trainer that was used by the French Armée de l'Air from 1946 until the late 1960s.

The M.S.470 Vanneau had been designed by Paul-René Gauthier during the Vichy regime, but didn't make its maiden flight until 22 December 1944, after the liberation. It was a tandem two-seat single engined low winged trainer of all metal construction.

The revived Armée de l'Air evaluated the M.S.470 and decided to adopt it as an advanced trainer. Three prototypes of the modified M.S.472 were ordered, followed by 230 production aircraft. The M.S.472 was basically identical to the M.S.470, but with a 700hp Gnome-Rhône 14M radial engine in place of the Hispano-Suiza engine of the original. It was a low-wing all-metal single engined monoplane, with the two crewmen sitting in tandem under a single glazed canopy.

The first of the production aircraft were delivered in December 1946. It would be followed by the Morane-Saulnier M.S.475 Vanneau V, which entered service in 1950. The French Navy also ordered the type, as the carrier-equipped M.S.474 Vanneau IV. All three of the production variants remained in use as trainers until the late 1960s.

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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (19 December 2013), Morane-Saulnier M.S.472 Vanneau II , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS472_vanneauII.html

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