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Nieuport 16

1916 WORLD WAR 1

Newport 16th Floor

Aviation technology developed at lightning speed during the First World War (1914-1918), with both sides trying to gain an advantage over Europe. This resulted in the deployment of many variants and entirely new aircraft designs, some of which lasted only a few months and were quickly overtaken by enemy designs. The Newport fighter series that originated in France eventually became a deep pedigree of various fighters that originated in the Newport 10 in 1914. The product has evolved through popular forms such as the Nieuport 1 "Bebe" and the larger, more powerful Seat Nieuport 12 models (both described elsewhere on this page).

The Nieuport 16 (Nie 16), a branch of the series, came out in January 1916 and brought a reinforced structure and a new engine modification. During its brief airflight, it worked with air services in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium (limited), Russia (produced locally by Dux) and Italy.

At the heart of the Nieuport 16 is the Nieuport 11 aircraft modified to accommodate new and more powerful engines in the 110 hp Le Rhone 9J rotary engine. In form and function, however, its appearance and role on the battlefield have remained virtually unchanged, so it retains much of the functionality of earlier designs. This resulted in a heavy front of the aircraft and reduced handling characteristics due to high wing loads.

In the absence of synchronization equipment, a Lewis machine gun was mounted on the upper wing element to remove the rotating propeller blades, which made the gun's range uncomfortably far from the pilot in the event of ammunition failure. The biplane wings retained by the Nie 11 have the same span and are supported by V-shaped struts.

The Nie 16 was launched on 5 January 1916, taking on the role of fighter/bomber escort/balloon destroyer. In the latter, V-pillars support four Le Prieur missiles on each wing for additional firepower.

Once the Nie 16 hit the market in large numbers, it quickly replaced the Nie 10 and Nie 11 fighters in circulation, and some stocks ended up getting Alkan synchronizer gears to allow the machine gun to be mounted on the fuselage and fired through the rotating propeller blades. Of course, this also means more weight is added to the front of the plane, further exacerbating the "heavy nose" the plane already exhibits.

The Nieuport 16 itself was eventually replaced by the Nieuport 17 model (described in detail elsewhere on this site), which offered improvements in both performance and handling - and the Nieuport 16 was just a stepping stone to leaving the fighter-type approach better feasible design.

The top speed of the Nie 16 in its final form is 103 mph.