Nieuport 13 (XIII) ???

[Volker_Nemsch]

Hello!

I stumbled across an old photo with an early Nieuport sesquiplane with the description "Nieuport 13".

My problem is that I found neither technical data, nor any bits of history concerning this type. In my books, lists and archives as well as in the "WWW" it was no problem to find the Nieuport 12 and the Nieuport 14, but no mention of the "13".

There must have been at least a project or prototype of the Nieuport 13 due to logical counting. Or was this machine a field modification of another (earlier) existing type accepted by Nieuport by giving it a seperate name?

Please help me!
:unsure:

[PeterL]

I do know that Nieuports were occasionally identified by wing area, one being the "13 sq m", which ,if I recall correctly, is the Nieuport 11. This would sometimes be expressed shorthand as "Nieuport 13". If memory serves the Nieuport 17 would by the same token be referred to as "the 15 sq m Nieuport", and thus "the Nie 15 " but it's been a long time and recently my memory is a little suspect. Of course, none of this precludes the existence of another Nieuport 13 that you or I have never heared of.

[MikeW]

Hi Volker,


The Nieuport 13, or possibly more correctly Nieuport XIII was an obscure prototype mentioned as being a 2-seater with an 80hp le Rhone engine and wing area of 23 square metres (nominally the same as the Nieuport 12).

It is also most probable that a second version of the XIII existed, fitted with a 150hp Hispano Suiza engine, and armament in the rear cockpit.


Jack Bruce theorised that the first version was intended to be a trainer, whilst the second version was intended for operational use.

Mike

[Volker_Nemsch]

Somewhere I found during the last few hours that a Nieuport 13 (?) made a long range propaganda flight (leaflet dropping?) from France to Russia and then back via Italy.
B)

Then Germany was much bigger and you had to add the German controlled territory in Nothern France/Belgium and Russia to this distance. That results in a flight over enemy territory of probably 1000 km or more! Is that true?

I´ll try to find the source for that story again...

[Rbailey]

Davilla and Soltan in thier book on French aircraft show pictures of the two versions. From their rather terse comments it doesn't seem that either went past the prtotype stage.

[Lufbery]

Hi all,

Check out this page: http://mars.ark.com/~mdf/N_12.html

It has a profile of the Nieuport 13 that did the leaflet flight over Germany. The caption for the profile reads:


80hp LeRhône engined Nieuport 13 used for a long range leaflet flight over Germany to Russia and returning back over Germany to Italy during the night of June 20-21 1916. It came down near the Russian border after overflying Berlin, making it the sole aircraft to do so during World War 1.


A little more information on the N-13 is on this page from the same site: http://mars.ark.com/~mdf/Nieuport_id.html

Both pages are actually frames from this site:
http://mars.ark.com/~mdf/

Regards,

[Volker_Nemsch]

That is much more than I expected! Thank you very much for the help!
:rolleyes:

[jempie]

Hello Volker!

Merry X-mas!

My third attempt to post!

The pilot who flew over Berlin dropping leaflets was Anselme Marchal.
Started his flight from Nancy and stranded before reaching the Russian lines at Cholm and was made POW!
He escaped however together with Roland Garros from captivity!

His plane I have into a vulgarisating book described as to have been a "Nieuport Special"! Probably a Nieuport which was adapted to this long range flight! Therefore perhaps that could have been "an unique piece"!

The photo in the book show him into a cockpit of a plane, but no idea which plane it is (photo is partial, just showing the cokpit part of a bi-plane)

Probably made war butin by the Germans?
So photos in German magazines of it might have been published!

VBR
Jempie
Maybe even with German markings on it when it was tested by the Germans?