Just a couple of notes in follow up to this. While apparently
both the 94th and 95th Pursuit _had_ Nieuport 28's before
the Lafayette Escadrille became the 103rd Aero, _neither_ was
officially operational before the 103rd. The 103rd was declared
operational on Feb 18, 1918 while the 95th Pursuit was operational
on March 9, 1918 with the 94th Pursuit following closely on March
19, 1918. So, an argument could be made that the SPAD 7's of
the 103rd Aero and _not_ the Nieuports of the 95th and 94th
Pursuit were the 'first'.
However, if you _really_ want to get 'picky', the US Navy detachment
at NAS LeCroisic became operational on November 7, 1917 with
4 Tellier flying boats (whatever the heck _they_ were!) So, there
is at least an argument that the _first_ US combat plane in WW1
was neither the SPAD nor the Nieuport 28 but rather that scourge
of the skies, the Tellier flying boat! :-) (And who makes a
model of that puppy? Is it on Eduard's 'to be released' list?)
Cheers,
-- Bill Shatzer - bshatzer@ednet1.osl.or.gov - aw177@Freenet.Carleton.ca -