Morane-Saulnier MS.733 Alcyon

Development of the Morane-Saulnier M.S.733 Alcyon (Kingfisher) basic trainer began with the M.S.730.01 prototype, which flew for the first time on 11 August 1949. With the original 134kW Mathis 8G.20 inverted V-8 engine replaced by a 179kW Argus As 10, the prototype flew again in November that year as the M.S.731.

Morane-Saulnier MS-733 Alcyon

Two M.S.732 prototypes were flight tested in early 1951, each of them powered by a Potez 6D.30 engine and having the previous cantilever fixed landing gear replaced by a new design in which the main units retracted. The first example of the definitive version flew on 16 April 1951 as the M.S.733.01; five pre-production aircraft followed and series aircraft totalled 200; 40 for the French navy, 15 for Cambodia, and the balance for service with the Armee de I'Air as the Alcyon, 70 of them being fitted with machine-gun armament for use as gunnery trainers. In 1956 some of the gunnery trainers were converted for counter-insurgency duties, with machine-gun and anti-personnel bomb armament, for use against the nationalist rebels in Algeria. These aircraft were redesignated M.S.733A, of which a number were sold later to Morocco. 

Engine: 1 x Potez 6D.30 inverted inline, 179kW/ 237 hp
Max take-off weight: 1670 kg / 3682 lb
Empty weight: 1260 kg / 2778 lb
Wingspan: 11.28 m / 37 ft 0 in
Length: 9.32 m / 30 ft 7 in
Height: 2.42 m / 7 ft 11 in
Wing area: 21.90 sq.m / 235.73 sq ft
Max. speed: 260 km/h / 162 mph
Ceiling: 4800 m / 15750 ft
Range: 497 nm / 920 km / 572 miles
Wing loading: 15.58 lb/sq.ft / 76.00 kg/sq.m
Crew: 2
Payload: 1-2 Pax