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The increasing obsolescence of the M.S.406 led the Finnish
Air Force to order, on 22 October 1942, the installation
of a Klimov M-105P in an M.S.406 airframe. The
M-105P engine, derived from the HS 12Y, afforded
1,100hp for take-off, and a substantial quantity of this
power plant, together with suitable VTSh-61P propellers,
had been captured by the Wehrmacht and was
available to the Finns. A 20mm MG 151 cannon was
mounted between the cylinder banks, a Bf 109G oil
cooler was adopted, an aerodynamically-improved
engine cowling was introduced, and, with some local
structural strengthening, the prototype conversion
was flown on 4 February 1943 as the Mörkö (Ghost) or
Mörkö-Moraani. Successful trials resulted in the decision
to bring all surviving M.S.406 and M.S.410 fighters
to Mörkö standard, but only two more were completed
before termination of the Finnish-Soviet conflict. Nevertheless, the conversion programme continued,
and by 21 November 1945, the remaining Morane-Saulnier
fighters had been modified, bringing the total number
of Mörkös delivered into the Finnish inventory to 41
aircraft. These retained the two or (in the case of the M.S.410 conversion) four wing-mounted 7.5mm machine
guns, but shortages of the MG 151 cannon necessitated
this engine-mounted weapon being replaced by a
12.7mm Berezina UB machine gun in some aircraft.
The Mörkö remained in service until 11 September 1948,
when the survivors were placed in storage, being
scrapped four years later.
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 2 849 kg | 4 lb |
| Empty weight | 2106 kg | 4643 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 10.62 m | 34 ft 10 in |
| Length | 8.38 m | 27 ft 6 in |
| Height | 2.71 m | 8 ft 11 in |
| Wing area | 17.10 m2 | 184.06 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 525 km/h | 326 mph |
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