Nieuport 21

Last updated
Nieuport 21
Nieuport 21.jpg
RoleFighter
Manufacturer Nieuport
Introduction1916
Retired1920s
Primary users Aéronautique Militaire
Imperial Russian Air Service
US Army Air Service
Developed from Nieuport 17

The Nieuport 21 (or Nieuport XXI C.1 in contemporary sources) was a French single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft used during World War I. The aircraft was used by the French, Russian, British and American air forces. After the war, the Nieuport 21 was a popular civil aircraft.

Contents

Design and development

Nieuport 21 prototype Nieuport 21 prototype.jpg
Nieuport 21 prototype

The Nieuport 21 was designed by Gustave Delage and it made its maiden flight in 1916. While it had a similar airframe to the Nieuport 17, it was equipped with a less powerful Le Rhône 9C engine as it was originally intended as a long range escort fighter. As the engine was fitted with a horseshoe shaped cowling, the Nieuport 21 was often mistaken for the slightly smaller Nieuport 11, which used the same cowling. [1]

Operational history

French Nieuport 21 fighter at Lemmes aerodrome in late 1916 Nieuport 21 fighter at Lemmes aerodrome 16 November 1916 (cropped).jpg
French Nieuport 21 fighter at Lemmes aerodrome in late 1916

The Nieuport 21 served alongside the more powerful Nieuport 17, where its lower weight helped boost its already impressive climb rate. Although initially intended as a bomber escort, this role was abandoned when the bombers were withdrawn from daylight operations. Large numbers were also built for training duties. Nieuport 21s were sold to Russia, and to the United States for use as trainers. The Nieuport 21 was license manufactured in Russia by Dux Factory. Examples were also used in limited numbers by the Royal Naval Air Service. A small number were used by a number of air arms in the early post war period, including the Finnish Air Force (the Whites) which had captured a Russian aircraft in Tampere in 1918 and which was used until 1923. The French Navy used one example for carrier trials in 1919 and 1920. Due to its similarity to the Nieuport 11, many operated by air forces post-war have been misidentified in the past as Nieuport 11s, few of which survived that long.

Operators

Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia
Flag of France.svg  France
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
Red flag.svg Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal
Portuguese Air Force
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania

Flag of Russia.svg  Russian Empire

Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia

Flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1918-1925).svg  Soviet Russia

Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand

Flag of the Ukrainian State.svg  Ukrainian People's Republic

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States

Specifications

Nieuport 21 Nieuport 21 Dux colour 3-view drawing.jpg
Nieuport 21
Nieuport Type N airfoil drawings Nieuport 17 Type N airfoils.jpg
Nieuport Type N airfoil drawings

Data from French Aircraft of the First World War [5] and Nieuport 1875-1911 [6]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sopwith Pup</span> British WW1 biplane fighter aircraft

The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristics and good manoeuvrability, the aircraft proved very successful. The Pup was eventually outclassed by newer German fighters, but it was not completely replaced on the Western Front until the end of 1917. The remaining Pups were relegated to Home Defence and training units. The Pup's docile flying characteristics also made it ideal for use in aircraft carrier deck landing and takeoff experiments and training.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport 17</span> French WW1 fighter aircraft

The Nieuport 17 C.1 is a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier Nieuports and better adapted to the more powerful engine than the interim Nieuport 16. Aside from early examples, it had the new Alkan-Hamy synchronization gear, permitting the use of a fuselage-mounted synchronised Vickers gun firing through the propeller disc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SPAD S.XIII</span> French WW1 fighter aircraft

The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SPAD S.VII</span> French WW1 fighter aircraft

The SPAD S.VII C.1 was the first in a series of single-seat biplane fighter aircraft produced by Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and rugged aircraft with good diving characteristics. It was also a stable gun platform, although pilots used to the more maneuverable Nieuport fighters found it heavy on the controls. It was flown by a number of the famous aces, such as France's Georges Guynemer, Italy's Francesco Baracca and Australia's Alexander Pentland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morane-Saulnier L</span> French WW1 fighter and reconnaissance aircraft

The Morane-Saulnier L, or Morane-Saulnier Type L, or officially MoS-3, was a French parasol wing one or two-seat scout aeroplane of the First World War. The Type L became one of the first successful fighter aircraft when it was fitted with a single machine gun that fired through the arc of the propeller, which was protected by armoured deflector wedges. Its immediate effectiveness in this role launched an arms race in fighter development, and the Type L was swiftly rendered obsolete. The original Type L used wing warping for lateral control, but a later version designated Type LA was fitted with ailerons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport 11</span> French WW1 fighter aircraft

The Nieuport 11, nicknamed the Bébé, is a French World War I single seat sesquiplane fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage. It was the primary aircraft that ended the Fokker Scourge in 1916. The type saw service with several of France's allies, and gave rise to the series of "vee-strut" Nieuport fighters that remained in service into the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport 27</span> French WW1 fighter aircraft

The Nieuport 27 was a World War I French sesquiplane fighter aircraft designed by Gustave Delage. The 27 was the last of the line of Nieuport "V-strut" single seat fighters that began with the Nieuport 10 of 1914. Operational examples supplemented the very similar Nieuport 24 and 24bis in operational squadrons in late 1917 and many would also be used as advanced trainers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport 28</span> French WW1 fighter aircraft

The Nieuport 28 C.1, a French biplane fighter aircraft flown during World War I, was built by Nieuport and designed by Gustave Delage. Owing its lineage to the successful line of sesquiplane fighters that included the Nieuport 17, the Nieuport 28 continued a similar design philosophy of a lightweight and highly maneuverable aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport 10</span> French WW1 aircraft

The Nieuport 10 is a French First World War sesquiplane that filled a wide variety of roles, including reconnaissance, fighter and trainer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caudron G.3</span> Type of aircraft

The Caudron G.3 was a single-engined French sesquiplane built by Caudron, widely used in World War I as a reconnaissance aircraft and trainer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caudron G.4</span> French WW1 bomber aircraft

The Caudron G.4 was a French biplane with twin engines, widely used during World War I as a bomber. It was designed by René and Gaston Caudron as an improvement over their single-engined Caudron G.3. The aircraft employed wing warping for banking. The first G.4 was built in 1915, and it was manufactured in France, England and Italy. It was the world's first twin-engine aircraft to be widely used, starting in March 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport 12</span> French WW1 fighter and reconnaissance aircraft

The Nieuport 12 was a French sesquiplane reconnaissance, fighter aircraft and trainer used by France, Russia, Great Britain and the United States during World War I. Later production examples were built as trainers and served widely until the late 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport 24</span> French WW1 fighter aircraft

The Nieuport 24 was a World War I French sesquiplane fighter aircraft designed by Gustave Delage as a development of the successful Nieuport 17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SPAD S.A</span> French WW1 fighter aircraft

The SPAD S.A was a French two-seat tractor biplane first flown in 1915. It was used by France and Russia in the early stages of the First World War in the fighter and reconnaissance roles. It was a unique aircraft that carried its observer in a nacelle ahead of wing, engine and propeller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport 14</span> French WW1 reconnaissance aircraft

The Nieuport 14 was a military reconnaissance sesquiplane produced in France during the First World War. The French Army deployed it in 1916 but the type was quickly withdrawn from front-line service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport IV</span> French pre-WW1 racing and reconnaissance aircraft

The Nieuport IV was a French-built sporting, training and reconnaissance monoplane of the early 1910s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport Triplane</span> French fighter prototype

The Nieuport Triplanes were a series of experimental stagger-wing triplanes modified from Nieuport 10, 17 and 17bis biplanes during World War I that were built by Nieuport. The exact number built is unknown, but only three or four are known to have been evaluated by the French Army Aviation and the British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). None of the aircraft were superior to the fighters already in service and they were not accepted for production.

The SPAD S.XV was a single-seat fighter designed and built in France and offered to fulfil a 1918 C1 specification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport 16</span> French WW1 fighter aircraft

The Nieuport 16 C.1 was a French World War I single-seat sesquiplane fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage as a development of the Nieuport 11 with a more powerful engine. The Nieuport 16's service life coincided with the period when the first air-to-air rockets, the Le Prieur rocket, were used most frequently, and the type has a closer association with them than any other aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport 17bis</span> French WW1 sesquiplane fighter aircraft used by the RNAS

The Nieuport 17bis C.1 was a World War I French single-seat sesquiplane fighter that was produced under licence in the United Kingdom in small numbers for the Royal Naval Air Service.

References

Notes

  1. Taylor and Alexander 1969, pp. 114–115.
  2. Berner, Aarne (1934). "Air Force Participation in Finnish War of Independence in Year 1918. Chapter III. Red Air Activity in Finland y. 1918" (PDF). Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  3. url=https://kw.jonkerweb.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=592:nieuport-21-and-23-uk&catid=93&lang=en&Itemid=555&showall=1&limitstart=
  4. Dan Antoniu (2014). Illustrated History of Romanian Aeronautcs 1909-1948.
  5. Davilla, 1997, p.389
  6. 1 2 3 4 Pommier, 2002, p.178
  7. 1 2 Hartmann, 2015, p.20

Bibliography