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| | Morane Saulnier MS 406 |
 | | The Morane Saulnier had the privilege, and perhaps the misfortune, to be the first modern French fighter, i.e., a low-wing monoplane with enclosed cockpit, retractable landing gear, and what was supposed to be appreciably higher performance than what the French Air Force (or Armee de l'Aire) had used before. |
 | | At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Morane Saulnier was the most numerous French fighter, followed by the Curtiss Hawk 75, an airplane of similar generation, but with more advanced thinking behind it. |
 | | The Morane's fault lay in the fact that the official request that led to its design was not visionary enough, at a time of great and revolutionary changes in fighter design and development. |
| www.squadron.com /old/ms406ca/ms406careview.htm (700 words) |
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