Nieuport IV
| Nieuport never. IV | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Reconnaissance plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
July 1911 |
| Commissioning: |
1911-1914 |
| Production time: |
1911-1914 |
| Number of pieces: |
several hundred (with license builds) |
The Nieuport IV was one of the first major commercial successes of the French aircraft company Societé Anonyme des Établissements Nieuport . During the First World War , it was used by several air forces, primarily as a reconnaissance aircraft.
development
The Nieuport IV was the fourth aircraft design by the French aviation pioneer and entrepreneur Édouard de Nieuport . As with the previous models, it was a monoplane with torsion control , which was built for civil use and three versions for military use. The aircraft was initially designed as a single-seater, but a seat for an observer was built back to back with the pilot. Both seats were placed directly on the round fuel tank regardless of the possible risk of accidents. One also experimented with a machine gun armament, whereby the weapon mounted on a desk-like frame shot forward over the propeller. An armored version was also tested in 1913.
The most popular variants were
- the IV.G with Gnôme rotary engines between 50 and 100 hp
- the IV.H or “Hydro” on floats
- the IV.M “Militaire” with Gnôme engines between 70 and 100 HP, which can be dismantled for transport by truck
After the death of his brother Charles in a crash landing, Edouard de Nieuport concentrated above all on improving the Nieuport IV. The proceeds from licensed productions from Italy and Russia ensured the existence of his company until 1914, when Gustave Delage joined the company in January 1914 and Nieuport abandoned the construction of monoplane in favor of the new one and a half decker.
commitment
The Nieuport IV was first presented to the Aéronautique Militaire at the “Concours Militaire” , the test flights for military aircraft held in Reims in 1911 , and won the competition with a price of 100,000 francs. The French military then ordered ten other aircraft in addition to the winning aircraft, which were used by the Escadrille N.12. In the same year Edouard de Nieuport reached the record speed of over 133 km / h via Châlons-sur-Marne , the aviator Gobé set a new distance record of 740 km. French navy officers flew from St. Raphael to Ajaccio in Corsica and back for the first time in 1913 , a sensational achievement at the time. Aviation pioneer Georges Legagneux also started there to a high altitude record of 6,120 m. At the end of 1913 the pilot Marc Bonnier transferred a Nieuport IV with a passenger on board on a seven-week long-haul flight from Villacoublay to Cairo .
Countries of operation
- Russia
- The Dux company built 300 machines under license in Moscow, the “Nieuport with a spoon” - as it was humorously called by Russian pilots because of its gliding ski on the chassis, which was attached as a landing aid. The Imperial Air Fleet deployed the aircraft at the front until 1916, and some of them were used as training aircraft until the 1920s. The Russian pilot Pyotr Nikolajewitsch Nesterow became particularly well-known, who carried out a looping for the first time with a Nieuport IV , but was disciplined because of his daring because of the endangerment of military material.
- Italy
- The Italian Air Force also held a flight competition in 1911 and then ordered several Nieuport IV.Gs, three of which were used for the first time in North Africa in the Italian-Turkish War shortly afterwards . When Capitano Moizo from the Battaglione Specialisti took off on a reconnaissance flight over Libya on October 23, 1911 , it was the first ever war mission of an aircraft. Two days later, however, Moizo had to make an emergency landing after being hit in the engine and was taken prisoner by the Turks, from which he was released in November. The Italian army also carried out attempts at arming the aircraft with MG and had the successor version Nieuport VI built under license by Fratelli Macchi in Varese .
- Greece
- The Greek army used a Nieuport IV in the Balkan War in 1912 . It was the "Alkyon", the private plane of the first Greek aviator Emmanuel Argyropoulos.
- Sweden
- In 1912 the Swedish army ordered an airplane with a Gnôme engine with 50 HP, which was later converted to a 70 HP engine and was given the designation "M 1" (Monoplane No. 1). In 1913, the Swedish military authorities had a copy of this aircraft (M 2) made with an 80 hp engine. The Swedish Navy procured an IV.H. In the winter of 1914, the Swedish army tried the M 1 with a ski chassis on the frozen Storsjön lake in Jämtland . The aircraft is exhibited today in the Air Force Museum in Malmslätt .
- Great Britain
- The British Navy bought twelve Nieuport IVs and equipped them with floats as a seaplane; In 1913 aviation pioneers Claude Grahame-White and Charles Rumney Samson sold their private IV.G to the Air Battalion Royal Engineers, the forerunner of the Royal Flying Corps , which had already acquired five aircraft. The aviators Loraine and Wilson were the first British military pilots to be killed in an aircraft accident on the aircraft with the number 253.
- Japan
- The Japanese air force procured two Nieuport IV, one IV.G and one IV.M and used them for bombing and reconnaissance flights during the siege of Tsingtau in 1914/1915 .
- Kingdom of Siam
- Bought four Nieuports as training planes.
- Spain
- Used eight trainer aircraft that remained in service through 1917.
- Argentina
- Procured an aircraft for the training of military pilots.
- Romania
- The Royal Romanian Air Corps also had Nieuport IV when it was founded in 1913 and deployed it in the Balkan War in 1913 .
- United States
- At least one Nieuport IV flew in the United States.
Use in the First World War
At the beginning of the war, the Nieuport IV was mainly used by the French and Russian air forces, but was already out of date at this point. In particular, the high-wing aircraft of the Nieuport competitor Morane-Saulnier offered an unrestricted view for the crew during the reconnaissance mission for the terrain reconnaissance.
The use of a Nieuport IV by the Egyptian port authorities was also significant; in 1914/1915 it carried out reconnaissance missions from the Suez Canal against the Ottoman army advancing across the Sinai .
The Nieuport IV in a performance comparison (around autumn 1914)
| Surname | country | Engine power | Max. speed | Takeoff mass | MG | Summit height |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nieuport IV |
 France
|
50 hp | 90 km / h | 600 kg | 0-1 | 2000 m |
| Morane-Saulnier L |
France
|
80 hp | 123 km / h | 480 kg | 0-1 | 4700 m |
| Blériot XI -2 |
France
|
70 hp | 106 km / h | 585 kg | 0 | ... m |
| Esnault-Pelterie REP N |
France
|
80 hp | 116 km / h | ... kg | 0 | ... m |
| Sopwith tabloid |
 United Kingdom
|
100 hp | 148 km / h | 481 kg | 0-1 | 2000 m |
| Palatinate AI |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
80 hp | 135 km / h | 615 kg | 0 | ... m |
| Etrich Taube |
 Austria-Hungary
|
100 hp | 100 km / h | 850 kg | 0 | 2000 m |
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1-2 |
| length | 7.50 m |
| span | 11.50 m |
| height | 2.45 m |
| Wing area | 23.50 m² |
| Wing extension | 5.6 |
| Empty mass | 325 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 600 kg |
| Wing loading | 25.60 kgf / m² |
| Engine | an air-cooled Gnome rotary engine , starting power 50 HP (37 kW) |
| Power load | 12.00 kg / PS |
| Top speed | 90 km / h near the ground |
| Climbing time to 1000 m | 10 min |
| Flight duration | 6 h |
| Armament | Hand weapons |
photos
Sales prospectus 1911
Memorial to the first loop in flight history
Nieuport IV.G by Claude Grahame White, 1912/1913
Swedish M.1 in the museum in Malmslätt
the first pilot of Greece Emmanuel Argyropoulos with his Nieuport IV.G
US aviation pioneer Earnest Anderson with his Nieuport IV in 1911
See also
literature
- Kenneth Munson: pioneering days. Aircraft from 1903–1914 . Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1969, pp. 70/71, 157ff.
- Heinz Nowarra: The Development of Airplanes 1914–1918 . Lehmanns, Munich 1959.
