Specifically designed to performing aerobatics and the trainer role, it bore more than a passing resemblance to the Morane-Saulnier MS.230, save for its single-seat cockpit and its slightly smaller size.

The aircraft was intended for military air services as well as by private pilots; as such, it not only possessed a relatively high safety margin but also favourable flight characteristics for carrying out a broad range of aerobatic manoeuvres.

Several aircraft survived the Second World War and continued to be flown in France; at least one remained in regular use by Compagnie Française d'Aviation through to the 1970s.

[4] Later aircraft, designated MS.181, were powered by the larger capacity (5.1 L, 315 cu in)[3] 60 hp (40 kW) Salmson 5Ac five-cylinder radial.

[5] Reconstructions of the French civil aircraft register suggest that only a single MS.180 was ever built and that it was subsequently outfitted with the more powerful engine.

It was suitable for the training of military pilots, its flight envelope and flying characteristics were well suited to performing all customary aerobatic manoeuvres, including all manner of looping, spinning, and rolling.

[7] This framework supported a light wooden cowling that was covered with fabric throughout the whole length of the fuselage, except for the forward end which was instead provisioned with removable metal hoods.

The horizontal stabiliser was adjustable on the ground..[7] The MS.180 was furnished with a large fixed conventional undercarriage that comprised single mainwheels mounted in an axleless arrangement on V-shaped struts that were hinged to the lower fuselage.

[3] It directly drove a twin-bladed wooden propeller and was mounted on a removable frame that was attached to the nose of the aircraft, lacking any cowling.

[12] Data from Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War,[5] National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics[13]General characteristics Performance