Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim52
Can anyone share the history of the Rozendaal drawings? They seem to be dated 1917. Were they developed from a French aircraft? Italian? British?
Maybe Russian?? I, for one, would like to know where I'm starting from before
I get lost in the woods! 
Jim |
Jim - do you have the detailed description (magazine article) by John Rozendaal? Here is the introduction:
Translated from 'Zeitschrift fur Flugtechnik und Motorluftschiffart' volume VIII (1917), issues 11 & 12.
The Nieuport Fighter
(Avion de chasse Nieuport, Type 17)
By John Rozendaal, Berlin and 's-Gravenhage
1. General
The model to be described here in detail using part drawings and sketches was built towards the end of 1916 by the "Societe Anonyme des Establissements Nieuports" in Jssy-les Moulineaux. The company operates flying schools in Villancoublay near Paris and at Frejus, St-Raphael (Var), the latter for maritime purposes; alongside the French companies such as Caudron, H&M Farman, Franco-British Aviation Company, Morane and Voisin, Nieuport has been designing and building aeroplanes independently since the beginning of the world war. Until recently, Nieuport was the leading manufacturer of fast fighter planes in the entante countries....
So it seems the answer to your questions is that it was French (or at least French built). Rozendaal went on to describe the plane in excellent detail (30 pages of translated text), including the materials used for each fitting and the wood used in various components. Considering the diversity of wood and the steel, aluminium, duralium and other materials, it truly is a 'composite' aircraft!
I don't know why he didn't detail the undercarriage or cowl. Maybe these were too badly damaged? I'm just guessing but maybe the aircraft was shot down and captured?