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HISTORY
The
Nieuport 17
was a French biplane fighter aircraft of World War I, manufactured by
the Nieuport company. It had outstanding maneuverability, and an excellent rate of
climb. Initially, the Nieuport 17 retained the above wing mounted Lewis gun of the "11",
but in French service this was soon replaced by a synchronized Vickers gun. In the Royal
Flying Corps, the wing mounted Lewis was usually retained, by now on the improved
Foster mounting, a curved metal rail which allowed the pilot to bring the gun down in
order to change drums or clear jams. A few individual aircraft were fitted with both guns
- but in practice this reduced performance unacceptably, and a single machine gun
remained standard.
The type reached the French front in March 1916, and quickly began to replace the
smaller Nieuport 11 and 16 in French service. The type went into service with Escadrille
N.57 on May 2, 1916. With the British DH.2 the Nieuports were responsible for ending
the reign of the Fokker Eindecker - the so-called 'Fokker scourge' period, proving a
severe shock to German aviation high command. Most French aces used the nimble
Nieuport during their career including Georges Guynemer, Charles Nungesser, Maurice
Boyau, Armand Pinsard, Réné Dorne, Gabriel Guerin, Alfred Duellin and Jean Navarre.
The type was also used by American volunteers of the Escadrille Lafayette when they
replaced their earlier Nieuports.
The Maxford USA version of the
Nieuport-17 has a 60” wingspan which
is roughly 1/5 scale. The color scheme
of this model is a replica of Réné
Dorne’s Nieuport-17. M. Dorne was
one of the French aces in WWI.
These
references
provide
more
information on the Nieuport-17 and
Réné Dorne.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuport_17
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Dorme