Moraine Saunier Éphémère

The Éphémère (or Dragonfly in english) is designed for french colonial forces; it doesn't use the very latest technology, but it is built to last, built to be repaired in the field, and built to fly in rough terrain.

This was done at a price, while easy to maintain, a single Hispaniola-Suiza 14AB 14-cylinder radial engine is not really powerful enough to power an aircraft of this size. But the limited speed was a consideration from the very beginning; thus the wings and fuselage required less streamlining, and a self-supporting, double-decker design was incorporated. This gives the aircraft excellent maneuverability. And, since it can fly with one pair of wings severely damaged, the aircraft is well able to withstand combat damage as well.

Another flaw in the design is pilot visibility; the high profile of the upper pair of wings limit visibility to the side. This is somewhat made up for by the large cockpit (capable of seating 3, though 2 is the normal crew) with excellent visibility to the front and rear.

The four 20 mm Hispaino 9 cannon are mounted inside the wings, just at the bend. The inner part of the wing is of very sturdy construction to support the big gun. The wings are long and fragile, but as mentioned before the Éphémère can fly with the wings severely damaged.

Another merit of the construction is the takeoff distance. A common variant fits pontoons instead of normal landing gear, but still manages to do with a relatively short field. The landing gear is never retractable, another feature that makes the Éphémère easy to maintain, and not much of a limit at this speed.

The markings is a botched attempt at diplomacy by the french. Realizing that french markings might be seen as an affront, especially in neighboring Texas, the french used FL as the national marking of French Louisiana. This was immediately read by the Texans as "Foreign Legion", and the FL marked planes became fair targets at once.

Modeling

Built out of two Stukas (wings) and one Zero (the fuselage). These models are not to scale with one another. They are from games collection, Milano, Italy.

	Base Complexity		14
	Poor Cockpit Visibility		-1
	Low Stall Speed		+2
	Long Range		+1
	Low Flight Ceiling		-1
	Maintainence Light		+1
	Total		15
	Cost	$8.900

Included here is a list of the relevant Special Characteristics of the plane, a design complexity, and a price calculated from these values.