Nieuport & General Aircraft Company
The Nieuport & General Aircraft Company Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer that existed from 1916 to 1920 .
history
The Nieuport & General Aircraft Company was founded by Samuel Waring, the owner of the furniture manufacturer Waring & Gillow from Cricklewood near London , in order to build the successful Nieuport 11 fighter aircraft from the French aircraft manufacturer Nieuport under license for the British Air Force during the period of the First World War . Ultimately, a total of 50 copies of the improved successor to the Nieuport 11, the Nieuport 17bis , were produced. When the British fighter Sopwith Camel was preferred by the aviation forces , production was changed and a total of around 400 Camels were built under license for Sopwith. After the First World War, the company also delivered around 100 copies of the Sopwith Snipe .
In 1917 the British government ordered the then aircraft manufacturer Royal Aircraft Factory in Farnborough to cease aircraft production. The well-known aircraft designer Henry P. Folland employed there , known as the developer of the Jäger SE 5 , became unemployed and accepted the offer from Nieuport & General Aircraft to work there as chief developer in the future. In addition to a number of other designs, he developed the Nieuport Nighthawk fighter aircraft , which should go into production in August 1918. However, the end of the First World War and problems with the intended engine meant that this machine was no longer put into service. Nieuport & General closed in August 1920, along with two other aircraft companies run by Samuel Waring, British Aerial Transport (BAT) and the Alliance Airplane Company. Henry Folland then went to the Gloster Aircraft Company and continued his work there. Under his leadership at Gloster, the Grebe fighter aircraft emerged as a consistent further development from the Nieuport Nighthawk.