The Nieuport 27 (or Nieuport XXVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a World War I 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 ...

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 ...

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

"V-strut" single seat fighters that began with 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 '' ...

of 1914. Operational examples supplemented the very similar Nieuport 24 and 24bis in operational squadrons in late 1917 and many would also be used as advanced trainers.

Design and development

The Nieuport 27's design closely followed that of the 24, sharing the same faired fuselage, rounded ailerons and half-heart shaped rudder.Davilla, 1997, p.400 The only externally visible changes from the 24 included the replacement of the fixed external wood Nieuport type sprung tailskid with an internally pivoted type, and the replacement of the single undercarriage axle that connected both wheels, with one that had a hinge along the centerline – and one extra wire. By 1918, many Nieuport fighters were being used as advanced trainers, and the

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 ...

Rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and its ...

was often replaced by lower powered engines, such as the Le Rhône 9C. Operational Nieuport 27s in Italian and French service were armed with a synchronized, fuselage-mounted

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 ...

occasionally supplemented with an overwing Lewis Gun mounted on one of several mountings. In British service with 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 ...

and later the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

a Lewis Gun was mounted on a

Foster mounting The Foster mounting was a device fitted to some fighter aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. It was designed to enable a machine gun (in practice, a Lewis Gun) to fire ''over'', rather than ''through'' the arc of the spi ...

above the top wing. Nieuport produced a number of prototypes either contemporary to, or based on the Nieuport 27, including one with 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 ...

V-8 inline engine that may have been designated the Nieuport 26, another with an enlarged 2 spar lower wing and a third with a redesigned front fuselage with a further simplified cabane structure, and a Vickers mounted on the forward port longeron. Development of the Nieuport 28, with ailerons moved to the two spar lower wing, rounded wingtips and a simplified fuselage structure, concluded further development of the 27 line.

Operational history

Despite being obsolescent before entering service, the type served with a large number of French ''Aéronautique Militaire'' units, pending availability of the newer SPAD S.XIII. In protest of the humiliation of airmen being ordered to march rather than fly for the main French victory parade on the Champs Élysées to celebrate the end of the

First World War 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 ...

, Charles Godefroy flew a Nieuport 27 through the gap between the pillars of the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

, three weeks after the official victory parade, on 7 August 1919, an act which was widely reported in contemporary newspapers. All Italian Nieuport 27s were imported from France. About 200 Nieuport 27s were supplied to Italy as Nieuport-Macchi was already at capacity producing the Hanriot HD.1 under licence. The British

obtained 71 Nieuport 27s in 1917, supplementing or replacing earlier Nieuports. These were used until early 1918 when Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5As became available in sufficient numbers, with the final operational examples being used in Palestine, while others were used in secondary roles, in the UK for training and trials.Davilla, 1997, p.404 In 1918 the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...

placed orders for 461 Nieuport 27 E.Is for use as advanced fighter-trainers, of which 287 were delivered. The Japanese bought several pattern aircraft and from 1921 to 1923 built 102 aircraft, with production starting by the Army Supply Depot at

Tokorozawa is a Cities of Japan, city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,298 in 168,939 households and a population density of 4761 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Tokorozawa is ...

until taken over by the Nakajima Aircraft Company. These were later designated as the 甲 3 (Ko 3), however the Japanese did not distinguish between the 24 and the 27. The Uruguayan Air Service (''Escuela Militar de Aviación (EMA)'') purchased 6 surplus Nieuport 27s from France before EMA built an additional 18 unlicensed copies. In 1930 these were redesignated as AIME 10 (''Avión de Instrucción Modelo Escuela'' – Training aircraft school model 10). The last of these were only retired in 1931. After being retired from military service, a number of Nieuport 27s found their way onto the civil aircraft registers, particularly in France and Japan.

Operators

; * Bulgarian Air Force – One captured Nieuport 27, formerly N5346 ; * Aéronautique Militaire **Army Cooperation *** Escadrille N12Davilla, 1997, p.401 *** Escadrille N76 *** Escadrille N79 *** Escadrille N82 *** Escadrille N87 *** Escadrille N88 *** Escadrille N90 *** Escadrille N91 *** Escadrille N92 *** Escadrille N94 *** Escadrille N95 *** Escadrille N96 *** Escadrille N97 *** Escadrille N98 *** Escadrille N99 *** Escadrille N102 *** Escadrille N151 *** Escadrille N152Davilla, 1997, p.402 *** Escadrille N155 *** Escadrille N156 *** Escadrille N157 *** Escadrille N158 *** Escadrille N159 *** Escadrille N160 *** Escadrille N161 *** Escadrille N162Davilla, 1997, p.403 *** Escadrille N313 *** Escadrille N314 *** Escadrille N315 *** Escadrille N392 *** Escadrille N523 *** Escadrille N531 *** Escadrille N562 *** Escadrille N581 **Group de Combat 11 *** Escadrille N57 **Group de Combat 14 *** Escadrille N86 **Group de Combat 17 *** Escadrille N89 *** Escadrille N91 *** Escadrille N100 **Group de Combat 20 *** Escadrille N68 *** Escadrille N99 *** Escadrille N159 *** Escadrille N162 **Group de Combat 21 *** Escadrille N98 *** Escadrille N157 ; *

Hellenic Air Force The Hellenic Air Force (HAF; , sometimes abbreviated as ΠΑ) is the air force of Greece (''Hellenic'' being the endonym for ''Greek'' in the Greek language). It is considered to be one of the largest air forces in NATO, and is globally placed 1 ...

;

* Corpo Aeronautico Militare ** 72a SquadrigliaVarriale 2015, p.20 ** 73a SquadrigliaVarriale 2015, p.20 ** 74a Squadriglia ** 75a Squadriglia ** 79a Squadriglia ** 81a Squadriglia ** 83a Squadriglia ** 91a Squadriglia ** 108a Squadriglia ** 5a Sezione Difesa di Padova ; *

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 ...

– 102 built under licence by Nakajima as the Ko 3. ; / *

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 ...

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

– Taken over from the Imperial Russian Air Force. ; * Aéronautique Serbe operated 3 Nieuport 27s. ;

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 ; *

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force () is the Air force, air and space force of the Turkish Armed Forces. It traces its origins to 1 June 1911 when it was founded as the Ottoman Aviation Squadrons, Aviation Squadrons by the Ottoman Empire. It was composed ...

– operated one captured Greek aircraft, named ''Ganimet 4'' (war booty 4), and they may have captured a second example. ; *

** No. 1 Squadron RFC ** No. 14 Squadron RFC ** No. 17 Squadron RFC ** No. 29 Squadron RFC ** No. 40 Squadron RFC ** No. 60 Squadron RFC ** No. 67 Squadron RFC ** No. 111 Squadron RFC ** No. 113 Squadron RFC *

** No. 22 Squadron RAF ** No. 29 Squadron RAF ; *

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 ...

** 31st Aero Squadron ** 37th Aero Squadron ; * Uruguayan Air Force operated 24 examples until 1931.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

*. * * * * * *

External links

{{Thai fighter designations 1910s French fighter aircraft 027 Sesquiplanes Aircraft first flown in 1917 Single-engined tractor aircraft Rotary-engined aircraft 1910s French military trainer aircraft