Nieuport 28

Nieuport 28
Reproduction of a Nieuport 28 in the National Museum of the United States Air Force
Type:	Fighter plane
Design country:	France
Manufacturer:	Nieuport
First flight:	June 14, 1917
Commissioning:	March 1918
Number of pieces:	300+

A civil registered Nieuport 28 after the war

Quentin Roosevelt in his Nieuport

Eddie Rickenbacker in front of his Nieuport

The Nieuport 28 (N.28C-1) was a French biplane - fighter that in 1918 during the First World War was first used.

construction

The aircraft was designed by Gustave Delage and flew for the first time in June 1917. Contrary to the connection of the wings with V-struts, as in the Nieuport 27 , two parallel struts were now used. A powerful Gnôme 9N rotary engine with 160 HP (119 kW) was used as the drive.

commitment

First World War

The aircraft was to be used in large numbers by French and American fighter squadrons. However, the French Air Force canceled all orders and preferred the SPAD S.XIII . The machines were delivered to the American Expeditionary Force , or AEF for short . The AEF received a total of 287 machines.

It was the first aircraft that AEF pilots used in aerial combat during World War I. During the second patrol mission of the AEF on April 14, 1918, two enemy machines were shot down. The pilots were Alan Winslow and Douglas Campbell of the 94th Aero Squadron. Although the Nieuport 28 was already considered obsolete and should be replaced by the SPAD S.XIII, American pilots were able to report many more aerial victories than losses of the machine.

The machine was more manoeuvrable than the SPAD, but often had engine problems. The covering could come off in a dive. Nevertheless, the machine was flown by many American pilots, such as Quentin Roosevelt  - the son of the former US President Theodore Roosevelt  - and the flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker .

Performance comparison

Performance comparison of single-seaters in the front line at the end of the First World War :

Surname	Country	First flight	Commissioning	Engine power	Max. speed	Takeoff mass	Armament ( MG )	Summit height	number of pieces
Albatros D.III	German Empire	1916-08-01	1917-01-15	170 hp	165 km / h	886 kg	2	5,500 m	1352
SE5a	United Kingdom	1916-11-22	1917-03-15	200 hp	222 km / h	880 kg	2	5,185 m	5205
Sopwith Camel	United Kingdom	1916-12-31	1917-06-15	130 hp	185 km / h	659 kg	2	5,791 m	5490
Sopwith Dolphin	United Kingdom	1917-03-23	1918-02-15	200 hp	211 km / h	890 kg	2	6,100 m	2072
Albatros D.Va	German Empire	1917-04-15	1917-07-15	185 hp	187 km / h	937 kg	2	6,250 m	2562
Palatinate D.IIIa	German Empire	1917-04-15	1917-08-15	180 hp	181 km / h	834 kg	2	6,000 m	750
SPAD S.XIII	France	1917-04-30	1917-05-31	220 hp	222 km / h	820 kg	2	6,650 m	8472
Nieuport 28	France	1917-06-14	1918-03-15	160 hp	195 km / h	740 kg	2	5,200 m	300
Fokker Dr.I	German Empire	1917-07-05	1917-09-01	130 hp	160 km / h	585 kg	2	6,500 m	420
Sopwith Snipe	United Kingdom	1917-10-31	1918-08-30	230 hp	195 km / h	955 kg	2	6,100 m	497
LFG Roland D.VIa	German Empire	1917-11-30	1918-05-15	160 hp	190 km / h	820 kg	2	5,500 m	353
Siemens-Schuckert D.IV	German Empire	1917-12-31	1918-08-15	160 hp	190 km / h	735 kg	2	8,000 m	123
Fokker D.VII	German Empire	1918-01-24	1918-04-15	180 hp	189 km / h	910 kg	2	6,000 m	800
Fokker D.VIIF	German Empire	1918-01-24	1918-04-15	226 hp	205 km / h	910 kg	2	7,000 m	200
Palatinate D.VIII	German Empire	1918-01-24	1918-09-15	160 hp	190 km / h	740 kg	2	7,500 m	120
Palatinate D.XII	German Empire	1918-03-31	1918-07-15	160 hp	180 km / h	902 kg	2	5,640 m	750
Fokker D.VIII	German Empire	1918-05-31	1918-07-31	110 hp	204 km / h	605 kg	2	6,300 m	289

post war period

At the end of the war, another 600 modified N.28A.1s were ordered by the USAS. The machines had minor structural improvements and new Marlin machine guns. The planes were mainly used as training aircraft. Twelve machines went to the US Navy to take off from battleships. After the war, four civil aircraft flew between Paris and London in 1920 during a postal strike in France. The last Nieuport 28 was withdrawn from the Swiss Air Force in the 1930s .

Military users

 Argentina

• Fuerza Aérea Argentina : 2

 France

• Aéronautique Militaire

 Greece

• Greek Air Force

 Guatemala

1 copy

 Switzerland

• Swiss Air Force : 1

 United States

• American Expeditionary Force
• US Army Air Service
• US Navy

Technical specifications

Three-sided view of the Nieuport 28

Parameter	Data
crew	1
length	6.5 m
span	8.00 m
height	2.48 m
Wing area	20 m²
Empty mass	533 kg
Takeoff mass	740 kg
drive	1 × Gnome 9N Monosoupape rotary engine with 160 PS (118 kW)
Top speed	195 km / h
Range	400 km
Service ceiling	5,200 m
Armament	2 × 7.7 mm Vickers machine guns

literature

• EF Cheesman (Ed.): Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Harleyford Publications, Letchworth 1960, pp. 98-99.
• Peter Cooksley: Nieuport Fighters in Action (Aircraft No. 167). Squadron / Signal Publications, Carrollton 1997, ISBN 0-89747-377-9 .
• James J. Davilla, Arthur M. Soltan: French Aircraft of the First World War. Flying Machines Press, Boulder 1997, ISBN 0-9637110-4-0 .
• Theodore Hamady: The Nieuport 28th America's First Fighter. Schiffer Publishing, Atglen 2008, ISBN 978-0-7643-2933-3 .
• Jack Hardwick, Ed Schnepf: A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies. The Making of the Great Aviation Films, General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989.
• Terry C. Treadwell: America's First Air War. The United States Army, Naval and Marine Air Services in the First World War. Airlife Publishing, London 2000, ISBN 1-84037-113-7 .

Web links

Commons : Nieuport 28  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• USAF Museum Nieuport N.28C-1
• Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
• Nieuport 28 profiles

Individual evidence

1. ↑ AERO, issue 121, p. 3386.