Nieuports flown by Mannock

[spad]

I have read that Edward Mannock shared flying B3607 with William MacLanachan, and that B3607 was a camouflaged two (Lewis) gun Nieuport but so far I have a lot of opinions but no evidence. Did Mannock fly any Nieuport 24 or 27, and were any of these two-gun versions?

[Taz]

spad- B3607 was a Nieuport 24 (SFA 4697), regardless of what you see in secondary sources, and was most likely only armed with an overwing Lewis, as were most, but not all, N.24 C1, N.24 bis and, N.27 C.I aircraft flown by the RFC. Do a search on Mannock and you will find an extensive thread on Mannock's Nieuports done just recently.

Taz
Terry Phillips

[TomVrille]

Originally Posted by spad

I have read that Edward Mannock shared flying B3607 with William MacLanachan, and that B3607 was a camouflaged two (Lewis) gun Nieuport but so far I have a lot of opinions but no evidence.

On page 145 of the book Fighter Pilot by 'McScotch' (Lt. William MacLanachan), there is a rather poor quality photograph of his aicraft with its' twin Lewis gun mounting. McScotch called his aircraft the "Silver Queen", and it was not camouflaged. The photograph is of such poor quality that the serial number is obscured over the red portion of the rudder, and all that can be said for certain is that the full serial is B.3???.

The markings on the photograph appear identical to those shown on the color profile of B.3607 shown on page 30 of NIEUPORTS in RNAS, RFC and RAF Service. The distinguishing feature of these markings is a large squadron letter "L". According to this reference, Mannock and MacLanachan did share time in B.3607 although no mention is made of this in McScotch's book.

Quoting 'McScotch' : "After tea, I decided to have another spell over the trenches, and while hunting for my machine, noticed a new type of Nieuport standing beside ours. She looked like a racehorse among a lot of old cab hacks; streamlined; her tail plane was a typical 'fish tail', and as a double Lewis gun was mounted on the plane her whole appearance was so clean and warlike I remarked to the others:

"What a beauty! Whose is she?"

Steve Godfrey told methat he had just brought her from Candas and that if I liked her I could have her in exchange for mine; double Lewis gun included."

A little bit of evidence for openers eh?