The Nieuport 11 C.1 was a WW1 biplane fighter designed by Gustave Delage. It was derived from a pre-war racing plane design, the Nieuport 10. The Nieuport 11 was nicknamed 'BeBe' partly because it was quite small, and because its official designation was 'BB' The first 'B' was Nieuport's designation as a biplane, and the the second 'B' was a designation by the French military for a single seat fighter. It was introduced to service in January 1916.
The Nieuport BeBe was a 'sesquiplane' design, meaning that the lower wing was narrower than the upper. It was quite nimble and agile. Its armament was a single machine gun mounted on the top wing. Early models required the pilot to stand up in the cockpit to change the ammunition boxes. Later designs had a rail upon which the the gun could be slid down closer to the cockpit to make changing the ammo easier.
The Nieuport 11's construction was of a wood framework covered with clear doped linen (CDL). It gave the aircraft a light yellow-ish colour. It's engine was a Le Rhone rotary engine rated at 80 HP, giving it a top speed of around 90 mph. Below is a chart giving its specs.
Below is a period photograph of the cockpit area of the aircraft. The seat was made of plywood.
My model of a Nieuport 11 C.1 is an Eduard 1/48 kit. It is marked in the colours of a French aircraft as flown by Jean de Sieyes de Veynes. Unfortunately for him, on July 3. 1916, he and his Nieuport were captured by the Germans. Below are two photos of it 'in captivity' and of my model as viewed from roughly the same point. I tried to portray my model as close as possible to the real aircraft. Upon examining photos of de Veynes aircraft, I noticed that it's paint job was incomplete. Two possible explanations are below the photographs.
Here is a photo of model for comparison - note that the landing gear wheels are different colours - the left one (port) is light (CDL?) and the right (starboard) one is dark (marron in french, or maroon in english?)
Notice that the blue-grey striping down the upper edge of the ear part of the fuselage is missing on the left (port) side.
More model photos -
The last photo of the model shows the bottom of the model as reflected in a mirror.
So, why the inconsistencies? Apparently Nieuport 11's were delivered to the front in a Clear Doped Linen (CDL) finish. At the front, or at a repair depot, the aircraft could be re-finished as required. In this case it was finished in a dark-red-brown colour which was officially called 'marron', and dark green. So two theories are possible as to the painting consistencies. One that the aircraft was damaged and one wheel hadn't been painted yet, as well as the stripe on the fuselage. The second is that the aircraft had just arrived at the front, and so the painting as not finished yet.. The official records are inconclusive as to which is right.
Below, an original Nieuport 11 C.1 at an aviation Museum in Paris. Note the delicate wood frame construction. The 'skin' of the aircraft was of doped linen fabric. The dope tightened the fabric and made it waterproof. The forward part of the fuselage had wood components with some some metal.\ fittings and parts.
As noted above, the Nieuport 11 was powered by a Le Rhone 80 HP rotary engine. below is a short video of such an engine being run on a test stand. This type of engine turning at about 1000 RPM spinning an 7 or 8 foot long propeller were quite efficient.
In this video, taken at an airshow, a Pfalz D.III makes an appearance at about the 1 minute 30 second mark.. As part of the show, the Nieuport attacks it and causes damage. In reality, by the time the Pfalz D.III was in service, most, if not all Nieuport 11's had been withdrawn from the front. The Pfalz D.III will be a subject for a future post.
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