Escadrille 103Escadrille 103 of the French Air Force was an elite aviation unit on the Western Front during World War I. One of its many aces, René Fonck was the highest scoring Allied fighter-pilot. Escadrille 103 was formed from Breguet Escadrille 17, which was founded on 2 August 1914 at Longvic. On 16 November 1914, it re-equipped with Voisins, becoming Escadrille VB.3. On 23 November 1914, it was posted to Groupe de Bombardment No. 1, commanded by Commandant Louis de Goys de Mezeyrac. On 4 March 1915, it was redesignated Escadrille VB.
Nieuport 28The 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. By the time the Nieuport 28 was available, the SPAD XIII had been chosen to equip the escadrilles de chasse of the Aéronautique Militaire for 1918, and this fighter was also the first choice for the projected American "pursuit" squadrons.
Escadrille 62Escadrille 62 is a French Air Force squadron. It was founded on 11 August 1915 at Lyon–Bron Airport. Escadrille 62 was originally equipped with Farman two-seater reconnaissance aircraft; thus, its first designation was Escadrille MF62. Its first assignment was to VI Armee of the French Army. On 5 May 1916, it was incorporated into a larger ad hoc unit, Groupe de Combat de la Somme—the other units included in the group were Escadrille N3, Escadrille N26, Escadrille N73, and Escadrille N103.
Escadrille 65Escadrille 65 of the French Air Force was established during World War I. It was founded at Lyon-Bron Airport on 2 August 1915. Though it was equipped with a mixed bag of aircraft, it was designated as Escadrille C 65 for its Caudron G.IVs. It was assigned to VII Armee of the French Army on 24 October 1915. It was re-equipped in its entirety with Nieuports, and was redesignated Escadrille N 65 on 21 February 1916. In June 1916, it was consolidated into an ad hoc Groupe de Combat that was based at Cachy.
Nieuport 17bisThe Nieuport 17bis C.1 (or Nieuport XVIIbis C.1 in contemporary sources) 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. The Nieuport 17bis designation was initially used by Nieuport for a Nieuport 11 variant that had been retrofitted with the wings and side fairings from a Nieuport 17, however this type was not produced in any numbers and the designation was reused.
Escadrille 3Escadrille 3 Les Cigognes ('The Storks') was a famous French aviation unit during the World War I. It was often referred to as the 'Stork Escadrille N3' due to its insignia. Pilots from Groupe de Combat 12 adopted the name and placed images of storks in different phases of flying on their planes. Escadrille 3 was formed in July 1912 at Avord as Escadrille B13, equipped with Bleriots. It began World War I with the Bleriots; however, on 18 March 1915, it was re-equipped with Morane-Saulnier machines and redesignated Escadrille MS3.
Escadrille 73Escadrille 73 of the French Air Force originated at Corcieux on 23 May 1915 as Detachment N 49 during the World War I. It was initially assigned to the VII Armee front. On 1 April 1916, it was renamed Detachment Nieuport de Corcieux. On 18 April 1916, it was redesignated, this time as Detachment N73. It became Escadrille N73 on 4 July 1916. On 1 November 1916, it was one of the units gathered into Groupe de Combat 12, along with Escadrille N3, Escadrille N26, and Escadrille N103.
Lewis gunThe Lewis gun (or Lewis automatic machine gun or Lewis automatic rifle) is a First World War–era light machine gun. Designed privately in the United States though not adopted there, the design was finalised and mass-produced in the United Kingdom, and widely used by troops of the British Empire during the war. It had a distinctive barrel cooling shroud (containing a finned, aluminium breech-to-muzzle heat sink to cool the gun barrel) and top-mounted pan magazine.
Nieuport 10The Nieuport 10 (or Nieuport XB in contemporary sources) was a French First World War sesquiplane that filled a wide variety of roles, including reconnaissance, fighter and trainer. In January 1914, designer Gustave Delage joined the Société Anonyme des Etablissements Nieuport, and started working on a series of aircraft that would remain in production for the remainder of the First World War. The Nieuport 10 was the first of these and was originally designed to compete in the Gordon Bennett Trophy race of 1914.