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SPAD S.XIII



 
 
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Old January 2nd 20, 01:52 PM posted to alt.binaries.pictures.aviation
Miloch
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Default SPAD S.XIII

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPAD_S.XIII

The SPAD S.XIII was a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War,
developed by Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD) from the earlier and
highly successful SPAD S.VII.

During early 1917, the French designer Louis Béchereau, spurred by the
approaching obsolescence of the S.VII, decided to develop two new fighter
aircraft, the S.XII and the S.XIII, both utilizing a powerful new geared version
of the successful Hispano-Suiza 8A engine. The cannon armament of the S.XII was
unpopular with most pilots, but the S.XIII proved to be one of the most capable
fighters of the war, as well as one of the most-produced, with 8,472 built and
orders for around 10,000 more cancelled at the Armistice.

By the end of the First World War, the S.XIII had equipped virtually every
fighter squadron of the Aéronautique Militaire. In addition, the United States
Army Air Service also procured the type in bulk during the conflict, and some
replaced or supplemented S.VIIs in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), pending the
arrival of Sopwith Dolphins. It proved popular with its pilots; numerous aces
from various nations flew the S.XIII during their flying careers. Following the
signing of the Armistice of 11 November 1918, which effectively marked the end
of the First World War, surplus S.XIIIs were sold in great numbers to both civil
and military operators throughout the world.

The origins of the SPAD S.XIII lies in the performance of its predecessor, the
SPAD S.VII, a single-seat fighter aircraft powered by a 150-horsepower (110 kW)
direct drive Hispano-Suiza 8A water-cooled V-8 engine and armed with a single
synchronised Vickers machine gun. The type demonstrated excellent performance
for the time, entering operational service with the French Aéronautique
Militaire during August 1916. By early 1917, however, the S.VII had been
surpassed by the latest German fighters such as the Albatros D.I.

The emergence of increasingly capable German fighters, which soon resulted in a
shift in aerial supremacy towards the Central Powers, led to calls for superior
aircraft to be developed and procured. French flying ace Georges Guynemer
personally lobbied for an improved version of the S.VII, telling the SPAD
designer Louis Béchereau that "The 150 hp SPAD is not a match for the
Halberstadt ... More speed is needed." An initial and quick solution to the
problem was to increase the compression ratio of the Hispano-Suiza engine, which
increased its power to 180 hp (130 kW) to provide for significantly improved
performance, allowing the SPAD S.VII to remain competitive for the time being.

Spanish manufacturer Hispano-Suiza were already in the process of developing a
more powerful geared version of the 8A engine, and this engine was
unsurprisingly chosen by Béchereau to power two developed versions of the S.VII.
The British S.E.5a and Sopwith Dolphin fighters would also be powered by the
same engine.

Design

The SPAD S.XIII was a single-engine biplane fighter aircraft. In terms of its
construction, it shared a similar configuration and layout to the earlier S.VII,
featuring a mainly wooden structure complete with a fabric covering; however, it
was generally larger and heavier than its predecessor. Other changes included
the tapered chord of its ailerons, the rounded tips of the tailplanes, bulkier
cowling accommodating the gear-drive Hispano-Suiza 8B engine choice, and
enlarged fin and rudder. The S.XIII was armed with a pair of forward-mounted
Vickers machine guns with 400 rounds per gun, which took the place of the single
gun that had been used on the earlier aircraft.

The S.XIII featured relatively conventional construction, that being a
wire-braced biplane with a box-shaped fuselage and a front-mounted engine,
except for its interposed wing struts located half-way along the wing span,
which gave the fighter the deceptive appearance of being a double-bay aircraft
instead of a single bay. This change prevented the landing brace wires from
whipping and chafing during flight, and was attributed by Andrews as a key
factor for the aircraft's high rate of climb. Otherwise, it had an orthodox
structure, comprising wooden members attached to metal joint fixtures. The
fuselage consisted of four square-section longerons, complete with wooden struts
and cross-members while braced with heavy-gauge piano wire; wire cable was
instead used for the flying and landing wires.

To facilitate its two-hour endurance, the S.XIII was furnished with an
assortment of underbelly fuel tanks were held within the forward fuselage area;
these were fed into the main service tank located in the center of the upper
wing by an engine-driven pump. Similar pumps were used for supplying pressurised
oil and water circulation between the engine's radiator and a header tank in
housed within the upper wing. The circular nose radiator incorporated vertical
Venetian-style blinds as a means of regulating the temperature of the engine.

The upper wing was a single-piece structure, featuring hollow box-section short
spars which connected with linen-bandaged scarf joints, Andrews claims that long
runs of spruce were difficult to obtain. The ribs consisted of plywood webs and
spruce capping strips, which were internally braced with piano wire. The upper
wing was provisioned with ailerons, which were actuated by the pilot via a
series of tubular pushrods which ran vertical directly beneath the ailerons,
with external, 90º bellcranks exposed above the lower wing panels' top fabric
covering. The lower wing consisted of spruce leading edges and wire-cable
trailing edges, while the surfaces were fabric-covered and treated with aircraft
dope to produce a scalloped effect, much as with the contemporary German Fokker
D.VII that also used a wire trailing-edge component, along the trailing edges.

While the forward Vickers machine guns were installed as standard, they were not
always present upon all aircraft. As a result of fears of a shortage of Vickers
guns during the last few months of the war, several American squadrons equipped
with the S.XIII decided to replace their existing Vickers .303 machine guns with
the lighter-weight (25 lbs/11.34 kg apiece) .30/06-calibre Marlin Rockwell M1917
and M1918 aircraft machine guns, saving some sixteen pounds (7.3 kg) in weight
over the twin-mount Vickers' total weight of 66 lbs (29.94 kg) for the guns
alone. Reportedly, by the end of the war, roughly one half of the aircraft in
American service had been converted in this fashion.


Role
biplane fighter

National origin
France

Manufacturer
SPAD

Designer
Louis Béchéreau

First flight
4 April 1917

Primary users
Aéronautique Militaire
Royal Flying Corps (Royal Air Force from April 1918)
United States Army Air Service

Number built
8,472

During May 1917, only one month following the type's maiden flight, deliveries
to the Armée de l'Air commenced. The new aircraft quickly became an important
element in the French plans for its fighter force, being expected to replace the
SPAD S.VII as well as the few remaining Nieuport fighters in front line service.
However, these plans were disrupted by deliveries occurring at a much slower
rate than had been initially forecast; by the end of March 1918, 764 fighters
had been delivered compared with a planned force of 2,230.

Eventually, the S.XIII equipped virtually every French fighter squadron,
comprising 74 Escadrilles, during the First World War. At the end of the war,
plans were underway to replace the S.XIII with several fighter types powered by
the 300 hp (220 kW) Hispano-Suiza 8F, such as the Nieuport-Delage NiD 29, the
SPAD S.XX and the Sopwith Dolphin II. These plans lapsed following the signing
of the Armistice of 11 November 1918, which ended the First World War and the
SPAD S.XIII remained in French service as a fighter aircraft until 1923.

The S.XIII was flown by numerous famous French fighter pilots such as Georges
Guynemer, Rene Fonck (the highest scoring Allied ace, credited with 75
victories) and Charles Nungesser (45 victories), and also by the leading Italian
ace Francesco Baracca (34 victories). Aces of the United States Army Air Service
who flew the S.XIII include Eddie Rickenbacker (America's leading First World
War ace with 26 confirmed victories) and Frank Luke (18 victories). Andrews
attributes the S.XIII's natural stability, which lent itself to being a steady
gun platform, as having been a key attribute for its success.

USAAS

Other Allied forces were quick to adopt the new fighter as well; the SPAD XIII
equipped 15 of the 16 operational American pursuit squadrons of the USAAS by the
signing of the Armistice. Even prior to America's entry into the conflict,
American volunteers flying with the Allies had been piloting the type. Nearly
half of the 893 purchased by the United States were still in service by 1920. In
the United States, some S.XIIIs were re-engined with 180 hp Wright-Hispano
engines to improve reliability and to prepare pilots for the new Thomas-Morse
MB-3 fighter (which used SPAD-type wings in its construction) in 1922; according
to Andrews, the Wright-Hispano engine was incapable of matching the performance
of the original powerplant.

Specifications (SPAD S.XIII)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 6.25 m (20 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in) late examples had a span of 8.08 m (26.5 ft)
Height: 2.60 m (8 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 21.11 m2 (227.2 sq ft) late examples had a wing area of 20.2 m2 (217
sq ft)
Empty weight: 601.5 kg (1,326 lb)
Gross weight: 856.5 kg (1,888 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Hispano-Suiza 8Ba, Bb or Bd Water cooled 8-cylinder vee-type,
150 kW (200 hp)

Performance
Maximum speed: 211 km/h (131 mph, 114 kn) at 1,000 m (3,300 ft) 208.5 km/h
(129.6 mph; 112.6 kn) at 2,000 m (6,600 ft)
205.5 km/h (127.7 mph; 111.0 kn) at 3,000 m (9,800 ft)
201 km/h (125 mph; 109 kn) at 4,000 m (13,000 ft)
190 km/h (120 mph; 100 kn) at 5,000 m (16,000 ft)

Endurance: 2 hours
Service ceiling: 6,800 m (22,300 ft)
Time to altitude:
2 minutes 20 seconds to 1,000 m (3,300 ft)
5 minutes 17 seconds to 2,000 m (6,600 ft)
8 minutes 45 seconds to 3,000 m (9,800 ft)
13 minutes 5 seconds to 4,000 m (13,000 ft)
20 minutes 10 seconds to 5,000 m (16,000 ft)


Armament

Guns: 2 x .303 in (7.70 mm) Vickers machine guns or on USAS Examples, 2 x Marlin
M1917 or M1918 machine guns
Bombs: 4 x 25 lb (11 kg) Cooper bombs




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