Nieuport Fighter Differences


Type Length
(m)
Span
U/L(m)
Wing
Area
Engine
(hp)
Distinguishing Features Common Paint Schemes
(Abbreviations below)
10 7.150 8.100/
6.750
18,00m²
sq.tips
Le Rhône
80
Complex cabane structure (sometimes had curved cross brace), long fuselage, other engines were used. CDL, Mid-Brown(dark CDL/Khaki?),
Grey(IRAS CDL)
11 5.500 7.520/
7.400
13,30m²
sq.tips
Le Rhône
80
"Cheeks" behind semicircular ¾ cowl. No headrest. Early Nie.11 had more rounded horizontal tail. CDL, Brown + green upper CDL/Blue under, Grey(IRAS CDL), Khaki(Italy)
16 5.640 7.520/
7.400
13,30m²
sq.tips
Le Rhône
110
Similar to Nie.11 with headrest. Cowling had larger opening and forward fuselage reinforced. Brown/green, PC10 (PC10 top CDL bottom), Possibly Aluminium(late IRAS & Belgian only!)
17 5.800 8.160/
7.800
14,75m²
sq.tips
Le Rhône
110
Molded plywood(strip) flanks. Headrest. Full cowl, some had non-standard cowl. Brown/green scheme (early only), Aluminium overall, CDL (Trainers only), PC10
17bis 6.000 8.160/
7.800
14,75m²
sq.tips
Clerget
110/130
Fuselage stringers and plywood. Engine doors reshaped. Shorter cowl and aerofoil intakes. Aluminium and PC10
21 5.800 8.160/
7.800
14,75m²
sq.tips
Le Rhône
80
As 17, except engine and cowl(as Nie.11), no headrest. Undercarriage + cabane slightly longer. As Nie.17
23 5.800 8.160/
7.800
14,75m²
sq.tips
Le Rhône
110/120
As Nie.17 but Vickers on starboard and cabane rigged around it. U/c and cabane slightly longer. As Nie.17
24 5.870 8.210/
7.820
14,75m²
round tips
Le Rhône
110/120/130
Longer fuselage than Nie.17bis, new ply tail, new airfoil section and rounded ailerons. Aluminium, standard pattern 5 color
Camouflage, PC10
24bis 5.870 8.210/
7.820
14,75m²
round tips
Le Rhône
120/130
Like Nie.24 but with Nie.17 empennage. As Nie.24
25 5.870 8.210/
7.820
14,75m²
round tips
Clerget
150-200
3 differences from Nie.27: Broad undercarriage struts and cowl, and aerofoil shaped air intakes. Aluminium and 5 color scheme
27 5.870 8.210/
7.820
14,75m²
round tips
Le Rhône
120/130
Sprung tailskid and ½-axle undercarriage pivotted from the centre. New aerofoil section. Aluminium, 5 color scheme, and PC10
28 6.300 8.160/
7.770
16,00m²
round tips
Gnôme
160
Sprung tailskid, long stringered fuselage, cabane has no diagonals and wing tips fully rounded Aluminium, 5 color scheme,
and O.D. Green (may have ecru undersides)

Air Force Abbreviations:
RFC = Royal Flying Corps (Great Britian)
RNAS = Royal Naval Air Service (Great Britian)
IRAS = Imperial Russian Air Service

Color Abbreviations and Supplement Information:
Alumnium = Aircraft were doped overall with aluminium pigmented dope that seem to have been shiny initially but dulled with age to a mid grey color. Application initially was by brush and a blotchiness is appearant in photographs, however at some point a switch was made to spray gun and thereafter the finish is very smooth.
Brown/Green Scheme = Actual colors are unknown, but based on German color change from Red brown to purple, generally assumed to have been done to reduce confusion with French aircraft, but there may be evidence to suggest that the colors were Green and Olive. Undersides were either CDL or possibly light blue (roundel blue?) with a thin outline (1"?) on flying surfaces, with top color extended underneath or bottom color to the top.
CDL = Clear Doped Linen was linen that was given a clear coating of protective dope or varnish, generally retaining the original color or slightly darker. The actual starting color varies based on the source of the fabric and Russian machines presented a distinct grey color from impurities in the linen. Linen from most of the Entente powers as used on the Nieuports was not normally translucent.
OD Green = Dark green preprinted fabric used at the end of the war and in the early postwar period, was intended to be used on all new production aircraft in France, Great Britian and US; however, the end of the war cancelled plans. It appears mostly on early post war Nie.28's and machines carrying this fabric were in USAS, Swiss and Nieuport Works colors.
PC10 = Royal Flying Corps color used as a preservative and camouflage dope on the uppersurfaces of aircraft. It was initially a dark Green which gradually became browner as the war progressed.
Standard Pattern 5 Color Camouflage = Same colors as applied to SPAD's, Breguets and other types of the era, and applied in a consistant pattern on all machines of a given design. The Nieuport 28 had its own pattern as did the 24/24bis/25/27 family. Colors were black, dark green, olive green, dark brown and ecru (the color obtained from staining white fabric with tea). Refer to the Five Color Document found on this site.

Dimensions:
Some variation exists between published dimensions - in some cases this was caused by translating from mm to inches and back (and rounding each time), plus considerable variation sometimes existed between individual aircraft (reliably reported dimensions for the Nieuport 10's span vary between 7.900 - 8.100m, with Nieuport Macchi's drawings showing 8.030m)

Engines:
Engine listed was standard, in many cases different engines were fitted, particularly to the 17/21/23 family.


Page created by and © Matt Bittner (mbittner(at)juno.com) 1998-1999 with lots of help from the Albatros Productions Datafile Specials and Mike Fletcher.
Last Updated Friday, October 1, 1999.