The small Neiuport 11 biplane was the French-built version of the renouned Sopwith Camel, manufactured under license.
It was affectionately known as the "Bébé" (baby) and originally designed for racing, this light plane was fast and extremely manoeuvrable. Its only major problem was in the design of its wing struts. In a steep dive, the struts allowed the wings to twist, sometimes with disastrous results. Used by the British and French to counter the Fokker E.III, the Neiuport 11 was disadvantaged
by its lack of a synchronized machine gun.
They were armed with a single Hotchkiss or Lewis machine gun mounted over the wing. Reloading of the gun was facilitated by the Foster gun mount, essentially a curved rail that the gun could be slid backwards and down so the pilot could reach the magazine on top of the machine gun. This was a difficult feat to perform under anything but calm flying conditions. With a variety of stops on the mount the gun could be inclined to fire upwards as well.
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Specifications |
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COUNTRY: |
France |
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MANUFACTURE: |
Societe Anonyme des Etablissements Neiuport |
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TYPE: |
Fighter |
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INTRODUCED: |
July 1915 |
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ENGINE: |
Le Rhône 9C, 9 cylinder, air cooled rotary, 80 hp |
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WING SPAN: |
24 ft 9 in [7.55 m] |
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LENGTH: |
19 ft 1/3 in [5.8 m] |
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HEIGHT: |
8 ft 1/2 in [2.45 m] |
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WEIGHT: |
1,060 lb [480 kg] |
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TOP SPEED: |
97 mph [156 km/h] at sea level |
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CEILING: |
15,090 ft [4,600 m] |
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ENDURANCE: |
2 hrs 30 mins |
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ARMAMENT: |
1 Lewis machine gun, mounted on the upper wing |