The Nieuport 28 C.1 was developed in France but was America's first fighter aircraft. It entered service in March 1918. France originally ordered it into production in 1917 only to cancel the order shortly thereafter in favor of the SPAD XIII as the standard French fighter. It was given a new lease on life when the United States Air Service (USAS) ordered 297 of them as it was available when the SPAD XIII could not be procured due to the SPAD production commitment to the French Air Force. It was intended as a stop gap fighter until enough SPAD XIII's became available. Deliveries - without guns - to the USAS 94th and 95th Aero Squadrons began in February and March 1918. By the end of March a limited number of Vickers machine guns were delivered to the 94th for combat patrols to begin. In June, the 27th and 147th Aero Squadrons were also equipped with the Nieuport 28.
The Nieuport 28 in combat proved to have outstanding maneuverability and rate of climb with decent speed, but had a weakness on the upper wing where the leading edge could fail, tearing the upper wing fabric off with it when it was pulled out of a high speed dive. This led to a number of incidents in combat causing losses. Some pilots were able to limp back to base with the damage, like Waldo Heinrichs, Jimmy Meissner, and Eddie Rickenbacker, but others were not so lucky. This led to more cautious flying by the pilots and probably hindered the overall combat performance of the Squadrons. Even so, the USAS fighter squadrons turned in an acceptable record with the Nieuport for the four months they flew it in combat until SPADS became available to replace the Nieuports beginning in August, 1918.
FSDS 2.24 Model, textures, and flight files by Captain Kurt (Kurt Schwabauer), freeware pilot figure source file by Wolfi – modified by Captain Kurt, SCASM editing by Mav, and prop spinning texture by Kelticheart.
Mav has worked his SCASM magic once again to eliminate the Virtual Cockpit flickering and malfunctioning aileron edges. Thanks buddy.
The Nieuport 28 in combat proved to have outstanding maneuverability and rate of climb with decent speed, but had a weakness on the upper wing where the leading edge could fail, tearing the upper wing fabric off with it when it was pulled out of a high speed dive. This led to a number of incidents in combat causing losses. Some pilots were able to limp back to base with the damage, like Waldo Heinrichs, Jimmy Meissner, and Eddie Rickenbacker, but others were not so lucky. This led to more cautious flying by the pilots and probably hindered the overall combat performance of the Squadrons. Even so, the USAS fighter squadrons turned in an acceptable record with the Nieuport for the four months they flew it in combat until SPADS became available to replace the Nieuports beginning in August, 1918.
FSDS 2.24 Model, textures, and flight files by Captain Kurt (Kurt Schwabauer), freeware pilot figure source file by Wolfi – modified by Captain Kurt, SCASM editing by Mav, and prop spinning texture by Kelticheart.
Mav has worked his SCASM magic once again to eliminate the Virtual Cockpit flickering and malfunctioning aileron edges. Thanks buddy.
