| Experience
with earlier airplanes led, in March 1916, to the Nieuport which was destined
to become the best known of all its airplanes, the Nieuport Type 17. Stronger
than its predecessors, this new airplane was very maneuverable and had
a high performance with a particularly good rate of climb. A Lewis gun
was mounted on the top wing to fire above the propeller, and a sliding
mounting enabled it to be pulled down by the pilot and aimed upwards, thereby
permitting an attack on enemy airplanes in their blind spot, from below.
Later in the aircraft's service life, when a synchronizing gear had been
perfected to allow the gun to fire through the propeller, a Vickers gun
was substituted. A number of French squadrons re-equipped with the Type
17, together with Belgian, Italian, Russian, and RFC units, and this airplane
rapidly made a name for itself with aces who included Nungesser, Ball,
and Bishop. This single-seat fighter aircraft was powered by one 120-hp
Le Rhone rotary piston engine, giving the plane a maximum speed of 106
mph at 6,500 feet, climb to 13,125 feet in 19 minutes 30 seconds, service
ceiling of 17,550 feet, and a maximum range of 155 miles. Armament on the
airplane was one fixed forward-firing 7.7-mm (303-caliber) Vickers or Lewis
gun. |
#AM303-AR
Dimensions: Wingspan, 16 1/2" -Length, 13 1/2" -Scale, 1/23
#AM303CR
Dimensions: Wingspan, 16 1/2" -Length, 13 1/2" -Scale, 1/23
#ESFN002W
Dimensions: Wingspan, 17 3/4" -Length, 14 1/2" -Scale, 1/20
All airplane models are Hand Carved, Hand Painted
Mahogany and comes fully assembled with removable desk stand. |