The Nieuport-Delage NiD.29 was a French single-seat biplane fighter (C.I category) designed and built by Nieuport-Delage for the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

Design and development

The prototype NiD.29 was an equal-span biplane with ailerons on both upper and lower wings. It had a fixed tailskid landing gear, a nose-mounted engine and a single open cockpit for the pilot. The prototype NiD 29 was evaluated by the French Service Aeronautique de l'Armee in July 1918 and a pre-production batch was ordered on 21 August 1918. It was powered by a

Hispano-Suiza 8 The Hispano-Suiza 8 is a Internal combustion engine cooling, water-cooled V8 engine, V8 SOHC aero engine introduced by Hispano-Suiza in 1914 that went on to become the most commonly used liquid-cooled engine in the aircraft of the Entente Powers ...

Fb piston engine and performed well in test, but could not achieve the required ceiling. The second prototype was modified with an increased wingspan, and on exceeding the required ceiling it was ordered into production in 1920, becoming the fastest service fighter in the world at that time. Production aircraft did not have ailerons on the upper wing, and the lower wing ailerons were increased in span though reduced in chord. The first mass production deliveries were made in 1922 to the French Air Force and the type was popular although it did have a tendency to enter a flat spin. The French military bought 250 aircraft which were built by Nieuport and seven other companies. The NiD 29 was to become an important fighter in the 1920s with purchases of 30 by Spain (including 10 Spanish licence-built aircraft) and 108 by Belgium (87 licensed built by

SABCA SABCA () is a Belgian aerospace company. Its main sectors of activity are civil aviation, space and defence. SABCA was established during 1920. Presently, it is owned by the Belgian group Orizio, itself owned by the Société Fédérale de Par ...

). The Italian ''

Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was ...

'' bought 175 aircraft including 95 built by Macchi as the Macchi-Nieuport 29 and 80 built by

Caproni Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan. Founded by Giova ...

. Sweden bought nine aircraft and designated them J 2. The

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese company Nakajima bought a pattern aircraft and built 608 for the Imperial Japanese Army as the Ko-4. Racing versions of the aircraft were developed and they gained eight world speed records and won the 1920 Gordon Bennett Trophy and the 1922 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe competition.

Operational history

Three NiD 29s were modified for reserve Captain Joseph Sadi-Lecointe in November 1925 and used on 70 sorties against insurgents in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

using bomb racks with six 10 kg bombs. Spanish aircraft were also involved in similar operations in North Africa.

Variants

;Nieuport Ni.29:Prototype for series, powered by a Hispano-Suiza 8Fb engine. ;NiD.29 C.1 :Production aircraft, powered by Hispano-Suiza 8Fb engines. ;NiD.29 B.1 Nieuport-Delage NiD

:Small number of conversions as an experimental assault version to carry six bombs. ;NiD.29bis :Prototype only with reduced wing area and steerable tailskid, powered by a Hispano-Suiza 8Fb engine. ;NiD.29G :Prototypes fitted with a Gnome Monosoupape 9N rotary engine, two later converted to take a Hispano engine and fitted with twin floats and an auxiliary tail float for the Grand Prix de Monaco in 1923. ;NiD.29M :Single prototype for Aeronavale (M for Marine) similar to 29G but with Le Rhone 9R engine, further converted into 32Rh. ;NiD.29D :Conversion with an engine-driven supercharger for an attempt on the altitude record, reached . ;NiD.29 ET.1 :Trainer variant with a Hispano-Suiza 8Ab engine and a single synchronised

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...

, three built. ;NiD.29 SHV Nieuport-Delage 29V racer

:Seaplane for the 1919

Schneider Trophy The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded first annually, and later biennially, to the winner of a race for seaplanes and ...

contest with reduced wingspan and military equipment removed, two aircraft built and one was also entered in the 1921 event but neither aircraft flew in the races. Powered by a Hispano-Suiza 8Fb engine ;NiD.29V :Lightweight racer developed in 1919 with a wingspan reduced to 6.00m (19ft 8¼in), powered by a Hispano-Suiza 8Fb engine, three built. ;NiD.29Vbis :One-off conversion with an enclosed cockpit to gain more speed, the pilot had small teardrop windows on each side with little forward visibility. Powered by a Hispano-Suiza 8Fb engine boosted to give . On 12 December 1920, Sadi-Lecointe flew the NiD-29Vbis to a new world speed record of . The aircraft was lost in a landing accident in 1921. ; NiD.32Rh : Le Rhone rotary-powered derivative for use by the French Navy as a carrier fighter. Ten built including one converted from 29M. ;NiD.33 E.2 :Two-seat trainer with conventional square-section fabric-covered fuselage. Small numbers used by Japan. ;NiD.40 C.1 :High altitude fighter with Rateau turbocharger ;NiD.40R :One-off modification of NiD.40 C.1 with extended wings and new tail for high-altitude record flights. Later fitted with floats. ;Nakajima 甲 4 (Ko 4) :Japanese licence-built NiD.29, 608 built.

Operators

; *

Argentine Army Aviation The Argentine Army Aviation (, AvEj) is the army aviation branch of the Argentine Army. Their members have the same rank insignia and titles as the rest of the Army. The Army Aviation Command is based at the Campo de Mayo Military Airfield. Alo ...

operated 6 examples from 1925 assigned to the 3rd Observation Group. ; *

Belgian Air Force The Belgian Air and Space Component (, ) is the Air force, air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force (; ). It was founded in 1909 and is one of the world's oldest air services. ...

operated 108 examples of which 88 were built locally by

from 1922 until replaced by Avia BH-21s from 1927 and Fairey Firefly IIM in 1931 ; *

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

operated 12 examples purchased from Japan from 1935Fernandez, 2011 p.39 *

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

operated 4 examples purchased from a Japanese mission in 1931 ; *

operated over 600 from 1922 *

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

operated a small number before standardizing on the Dewoitine D.1 ; *

Corpo Aeronautico Militare The Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) was formed as part of the Regio Esercito (Royal Army) on 7 January 1915, incorporating the Aviators Flights Battalion (airplanes), the Specialists Battalion (airships) and the Ballon ...

operated 175 examples built by Macchi and

from 1924 until at least 1931.Fernandez, 2011 p.22 These were flown by the 76, 84, 91st ''Squadriglia''s of the 7th ''Gruppo'', 70, 74 and 75th ''Squadriglia''s of the 23rd ''Gruppo'' of the 1st ''Stormo Caccia'' and the 92nd ''Squadriglia'' 8th ''Gruppo''. ; *

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

operated 608 Nakajima-built Ko.4 (Nieuport Fighter type 4) from 1923 until 1937 or later in the 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8 ''Hiko Rentai'' (Air Regiments). One pattern aircraft was purchased from France ; *

Spanish Air Force The Spanish Air and Space Force () is the aerial and space warfare branch of the Spanish Armed Forces. History Early stages Hot air balloons have been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with the help of Al ...

operated 30 examples from 1923 until replaced with Nieuport-Delage NiD 52s in 1931 ; : Manchukuo Air Force operated a single ex-Manchurian and ex-Japanese Ko 4 when formed in 1937.Andersson 2008, p. 172. ; *

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

operated 10 examples designated as ''Jaktflygplan 2'' (Fighter Type 2) from 1925 by ''Flygflottilj F.3'' (3rd Wing) and ''F.5''. ;

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

* Royal Siamese Air Service and Royal Thai Air Force operated 52 as บ.ข.๔ (B.Kh4 or fighter type 4) from 1923, 40 of which were built in Siam. Some examples remained in service after the country became Thailand.Fernandez, 2011 p.40

Survivor

A single example survives at the

Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace The Musée de l'air et de l'espace (, ) is a French aerospace museum, located at the south-eastern edge of Paris–Le Bourget Airport, north of Paris, and in the Communes of France, commune of Le Bourget. It was inaugurated in 1919 after a propo ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

although it is not presently on display.

Specifications (NiD 29)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Andersson, Lennart. ''A History of Chinese Aviation:Encyclopedia of Aircraft and Aviation in China until 1949.'' Taipei, Taiwan: AHS of ROC, 2008. . * * ''

Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft The ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'' was a weekly partwork magazine by Aerospace Publishing (an imprint of Orbis Publishing) which was published in the United Kingdom (and sold in other countries too) during the early 1980s. The magazi ...

'' (Part Work 1982-1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985. * * Taylor, John W. R. and Jean Alexander. ''Combat Aircraft of the World.'' New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. . * Taylor, Michael J. H. ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation''. London: Studio Editions, 1989. . * * * {{Authority control 1910s French fighter aircraft 029 Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1918 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear