Nieuport 27 (Nieuport)

Nieuport 27
Wikipedia Nieuport 27

The Nieuport 27 (or Nieuport XXVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a World War I French sesquiplane fighter aircraft designed by Gustave Delage. The 27 was the last of the line of Nieuport "V-strut" single seat fighters that began with the Nieuport 10 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.

The Nieuport 27's design closely followed that of the 24, sharing the same faired fuselage, rounded ailerons and half-heart shaped rudder. 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 130 hp (97 kW) Le Rhône 9JB Rotary engine was often replaced by lower powered engines, such as the 80 hp (60 kW) Le Rhône 9C.

Operational Nieuport 27s in Italian and French service were armed with a synchronized, fuselage-mounted .303 in (7.70 mm) Vickers machine gun occasionally supplemented with an overwing Lewis Gun mounted on one of several mountings. In British service with the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force a .303 in (7.70 mm) Lewis Gun was mounted on a Foster mounting above the top wing.

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.

The British Royal Flying Corps 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. Wikipedia

Nieuport 27