The Nieuport 12 (or Nieuport XII in contemporary sources) was a French

sesquiplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

reconnaissance,

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

and trainer used by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Later production examples were built as trainers and served widely until the late 1920s.

Design and development

To improve the performance of the

Nieuport 10 The Nieuport 10 (or Nieuport XB in contemporary sources) is a French First World War sesquiplane that filled a wide variety of roles, including reconnaissance, fighter and trainer. Design and development In January 1914, designer joined the '' ...

a re-engined version was developed as the Nieuport 12 with a significantly enlarged upper wing. A Lewis gun was fitted to the rear cockpit for use by the observer, normally on an Etévé ring (known as the Nieuport ring in British service) although early examples used a pedestal mount or half ring. A second Lewis was sometimes fitted to fire over the top wing. Nieuport 12s built by Beardmore used by the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

were sometimes fitted with a

Scarff ring The Scarff ring was a type of machine gun mounting developed during the First World War by Warrant Officer (Gunner) F. W. Scarff of the Admiralty Air Department for use on two-seater aircraft. The mount incorporated bungee cord suspension in el ...

instead of the Nieuport ring, and a synchronized

Vickers gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a 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 men to move and ...

for the pilot. Additional modifications were made to those built by Beardmore. It could be fitted with either a Clerget,

Clerget 9B The Clerget 9B is a nine-cylinder rotary engine, rotary aircraft engine of the World War I era designed by Pierre Clerget. Manufactured in both France and Great Britain (Gwynnes Limited), it was used on such aircraft as the Sopwith Camel. The Cler ...

engine or

Le Rhône 9J The Le Rhône 9J is a nine-cylinder Rotary engine, rotary aircraft engine produced in France by Gnome et Rhône. Also known as the Le Rhône 110 hp in a reference to its nominal power rating, the engine was fitted to a number of mi ...

mounted in the nose.

Variants

;Nieuport 12 A.2 :Two-seat fighter-reconnaissance biplane, powered by

Clerget 9Z Clerget was the name given to a series of early rotary aircraft engine types of the World War I era that were designed by Pierre Clerget( fr). Manufactured in France by Clerget-Blin and in Great Britain by Gwynnes Limited they were used on suc ...

engine.Bruce 1982, p.320. or

. ;Nieuport 12bis C.2 :Revised version with

engine and streamlined side fairings.Bruce 1982, p.323. ;Nieuport 13 :Two prototypes with increased span but same nominal wing area as 12. One 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 ...

, and the other by an

Le Rhône 9C The Le Rhône 9C is a nine-cylinder Rotary engine, rotary aircraft engine produced in France by '' Société des Moteurs Le Rhône'' / Gnome et Rhône. Also known as the Le Rhône 80 hp in a reference to its nominal power rating, t ...

. ;Nieuport 20 :Version powered by

. Not used by France, but 21 delivered to Royal Flying Corps.Bruce 1982, pp. 323–324. All but first examples externally similar to 12bis. ;23 meter Nieuport :Unofficial generic designation for all types listed here based on nominal wing area of 23 square meters. ;Nieuport 80 E.2 and 81 E.2 :Nieuport 12s were later built in large numbers specifically as training aircraft with the gun ring removed. 8 in designation referred to

. These differed in having flight controls for just the pilot in the rear seat (81 E.2), or both pilot and passenger (80 E.2). ;Nieuport 12 (Beardmore) :Beardmore progressively redesigned the Nieuport 12 during a production run of 50 aircraft so early examples were almost stock but late production examples differed considerably in detail. These were fitted with

and

rotaries. ;Mitsubishi Army Type 甲 1 (Ko 1) Trainer :Japanese designation for licence built Nieuport 81 E.2s. 57 built.Mikesh and Abe 1990, p. 176. ;Trainer Type 1 :Siamese designation for Nieuport 80 E.2. ;Sipowicz 1 :Polish experimental aircraft using lifting struts similar to the

Wright-Bellanca WB-2 The Wright-Bellanca WB-2, was a high wing monoplane aircraft designed by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, initially for Wright Aeronautical then later Columbia Aircraft Corp. Based on its all-wood forerunner, the Wright-Bellanca WB-1, only one was ...

Operators

; *

Argentine Naval Aviation The Argentine Naval Aviation (', COAN) is the naval aviation branch of the Argentine Navy and one of its four operational commands. Argentina, along with Brazilian Navy, Brazil is one of two South American countries to have operated two aircraft c ...

– One aircraft in 1919 ; *

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. ...

; *

Chilean Air Force The Chilean Air Force () is the air force of Chile and branch of the Chilean military. History The first step towards the current FACh is taken by Lieutenant Colonel, Teniente Coronel training as a pilot in France. Although a local academy was c ...

– One aircraft only. ; * ''Aéronautique Militaire'' ; *

Estonian Air Force The Estonian Air Force (, ) is the aviation branch of the Estonian Defence Forces. The air force traces its history to 1918, and was re-established in its current form in 1991. As of 2025, the Estonian Air Force has a strength of ~1,600 personn ...

– Postwar. ; *

Royal Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; , abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independence. ...

; *

Imperial Japanese Army Air Service The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ) was the Military aviation, aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground ...

– received 40 Nieuport 81 E.2 from France in 1919, supplemented with 57 licence-built aircraft. ; *

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force () is the aerial warfare Military branch, branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 26,000 military personnel an ...

; *

Portuguese Air Force The Portuguese Air Force () is the air force, aerial warfare force of Portugal. Locally it is referred to by the acronym FAP but internationally is often referred to by the acronym PRTAF. It is the youngest of the three branches of the Portuguese ...

; *

Romanian Air Corps The Romanian Air Corps or Aviation Corps (RAC) () was the air arm of the Romanian army until the formation of the Romanian Air Force. It was established on 1 April 1913 as the Military Aeronautics Service () and subordinated to the Engineer Insp ...

; *

Imperial Russian Air Service The Imperial Russian Air Service () was an air force founded in 1912 for Russian Empire, Imperial Russia."''12 августа 1912 года приказом по военному ведомству вопросы воздухоплавания ...

; *

Serbian Air Force The Serbian Air Force and Air Defence (), is the air force of Serbia and service branch of the Serbian Armed Forces. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of Serbian airspace, and jointly with the Serbian Army, to protect territ ...

;

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 ...

* Royal Siamese Aeronautical Service – One aircraft only. Locally designated B.F.1 (). ; *

** No. 45 Squadron RFC ** No. 46 Squadron RFC ** No. 65 Squadron RFC ** No. 84 Squadron RFC *

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

** No. 7 Squadron RNAS ** No. 10 Squadron RNAS ; *

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

; : Workers' and Peasants' Air Fleet Nieuport 12 NAM Ottawa MDF 8562

Survivor

A single ex-French Nieuport 12 is on display following an extensive restoration (including reinstalling the original

rotary engine) at the

Canada Aviation and Space Museum The Canada Aviation and Space Museum () (formerly the Canada Aviation Museum (''Musée de l'aviation du Canada'') and National Aeronautical Collection (''Collection aéronautique nationale'')) is Canada's national aviation history museum. The m ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

in the late 1990s. This aircraft was donated to the Canadian Dominion Archives along with a

Canon de 75 modèle 1897 The French 75 mm field gun is a Quick-firing gun, quick-firing field artillery piece adopted in March 1898. Its official French designation was: Matériel de 75 mm Mle 1897. It was commonly known as the French 75, simply the 75 and S ...

cannon and an extensive collection of

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

posters by the French Government in 1916 and was used for

war bond War bonds (sometimes referred to as victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are Security (finance)#Debt, debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an un ...

drives until the

1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, H1N1 subtype of the influenz ...

resulted in it being placed in storage. In the late 1960s the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

partially converted it into an RFC Beardmore example for display.

Specifications (French-built Nieuport 12 A.2)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control 1910s French fighter aircraft 012 1910s French military trainer aircraft 1910s French military reconnaissance aircraft Sesquiplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1915 Rotary-engined aircraft