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Concept
Nieuport 11
Summary
The Nieuport 11 (or Nieuport XI C.1 in contemporary sources), 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 (latterly as trainers) into the 1920s.
The Nieuport 11 is a new much smaller aircraft based on the general configuration of the Nieuport 10, but designed specifically as a single-seat fighter. Like the "10" the "11" was a sesquiplane, a biplane with a full-sized top wing with two spars, and a lower wing of much narrower chord and a single spar. Interplane struts in the form of a "Vee" joined the upper and lower wings. The sesquiplane layout reduced drag and improved the rate of climb, as well as offering a better view from the cockpit than either biplane or monoplane, while being substantially stronger than contemporary monoplanes. The narrow lower wing could experience aeroelastic flutter, but at air speeds beyond which the Nieuport 11 was capable, and would only become an occasional problem on later much higher powered developments, as well as the German Albatros D.III.
Nieuport 11s were supplied to the French Aéronautique Militaire, the British Royal Naval Air Service, the Imperial Russian Air Service, the Belgian Air Force, and Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare. 646 Nieuport 11s were produced by the Italian Macchi company under licence.
After Romania suffered military setbacks, one Nieuport 11, and several Nieuport 12s were transferred from RNAS No.2 Wing as part of the Romanian Flight mission. Additional airplanes received were assembled at Rezerva generală a aviației, however the exact number of Nieuport 11s delivered is unknown.
In 1916 an improved version appeared as the Nieuport 16, which was a strengthened Nieuport 11 airframe powered by a Le Rhône 9J rotary engine. Visible differences included a larger aperture in front of the "horse shoe" cowling and a headrest for the pilot.
Official source
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