Nieuport 11

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuport_11

The Nieuport 11, nicknamed the Bébé, was a French World War I single seat
sesquiplane fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage. It was the primary
aircraft that ended the 'Fokker Scourge' in 1916.

The type saw service with several of France's allies, and gave rise to the
series of "vee-strut" Nieuport fighters that remained in service (latterly as
trainers) into the 1920s.

The Nieuport 11 was a smaller, simplified version of the Nieuport 10, designed
specifically as a single-seat fighter. Like the "10" the "11" was a sesquiplane,
a biplane with a full-sized top wing with two spars, and a lower wing of much
narrower chord and a single spar. Interplane struts in the form of a "Vee"
joined the wings together. The sesquiplane layout reduces drag and improves the
rate of climb, as well as offering a better view from the cockpit than either
biplane or monoplane, while being substantially stronger than contemporary
monoplanes.

Role Fighter
Manufacturer Nieuport
Designer Gustave Delage
Introduction 5 January 1916
Status retired
Primary users Aéronautique Militaire (France)
Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Italy), Imperial Russian Air Service

The Nieuport 11 reached the French front in January 1916, and 90 were in service
within the month.

This small, sesquiplane outclassed the Fokker Eindecker in every respect,
including speed, climb rate and maneuverability. It featured ailerons for
lateral control rather than the Fokker's wing warping, giving lighter, quicker
roll response, and its elevator was attached to a conventional tail plane which
provided better pitch control as opposed to the all-moving, balanced "Morane
type" elevators of the Fokker. The Fokker's success was solely due to its
synchronized machine gun which fired forward through the arc of its propeller.
At the time, the Allies lacked a similar system, and the Nieuport 11's Lewis
machine gun[note 1] was mounted to fire over the propeller, allowing
uninterrupted forward fire.

Specifications (Nieuport 11 C.1)

General characteristics
Crew: one, pilot
Length: 5.8 m (19 ft 0 in)
Wingspan: 7.55 m (24 ft 9 in)
Height: 2.4 m (7 ft 10.5 in)
Wing area: 13 m² (140 ft²)
Empty weight: 344 kg (759 lb)
Loaded weight: 480 kg (1,058 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 550 kg (1,213 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Le Rhone 9C nine-cylinder air-cooled rotary engine, 59.6 kW (80
hp)

Performance
Maximum speed: 156 km/h (97 mph)
Range: 330 km (205 miles)
Service ceiling: 4,600 m (15,090 ft)
Rate of climb: 15 mins to 3,000 m (9,840 ft)
Power/mass: 1.49 kW/kg (0.09 hp/lb)

Armament
1 × Lewis or Hotchkiss machine gun
8 × air to air Le Prieur rockets for use against observation balloons and
airships (optional)


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