Salmson 2

The Salmson 2, (given the military designation Salmson 2 A2) was a French biplane reconnaissance aircraft made by Salmson. It was developed to a 1916 requirement. Along with the Breguet 14, it was the main reconnaissance aircraft in use with the French army and the American Expeditionary Force's aviation units in 1918. At the end of the First World War, one-third of French reconnaissance aircraft were Salmson 2s.

Design and development

During the First World War, the Salmson factory built aircraft engines, generally 9- and later 18-cylinder water-cooled radial engines developed from the Swiss Canton-Unné design, one of the earliest known non-rotary radial engine designs ever used for military aircraft. The company's first entry into aircraft design came with the Salmson-Moineau S.M. 1, an unusual three-seat reconnaissance biplane with twin airscrews gear-driven from a single Salmson engine in the nose of the fuselage. These aircraft, of which 155 were built, were not especially successful.