The deficiency in the Nieuport 11 lay in the armament. Placing the gun on top of the wing, high above the centre line, obviated the need for an interupter mechanism but made aiming and reloading very difficult. With the acceptance in the spring of 1916 of the deadly two gun Albatros DI and DII into German service the need for improvement became even more pressing.Replacing the lightweight Lewis gun with the heavier Vickers, together with its attendant interupter gear and larger quantity of ammunition, required more power than the 80hp Le Rhone could provide. Installing a 110hp Le Rhone into an otherwise virtualy unaltered type 11 airframe produced the Nieuport 16 which was less manoeverable than it's predecessor due to a heavier wing loadingand which in anycase retained the over wing armament.
The problem called for a more radical solution. Designed to the same formula as the BeBe, the Nieuport type 17 C1 was a completely new aeroplane. Heavier and larger overall than the Nieuport 16, and with a Vickers gun as primary armament, the Nieuport 17 was powered by the same 110hp Le Rhone 9Ja as its predecessor and performance was if anything marginaly inferior. Even so it represented the peak of developement for the vee-strut series and until the type 28 of 1918 all subsequent Nieuport scouts would in be developed directly from the type 17 C1.
Still recovering from the effects of his wounds Guynemer first flew Nieuport 17 serial N-1386 on 18th May but did not log an operational flight with it for a further two weeks. It was in this machine that he fought his legendary duel with Ernst Udet on 6th June 1916. Twice victorious with N-1386 Guynemer was going for a third on the 22nd July when he suffered an iterrupter gear failure and shot off his own propeller. Fragments severed two rigging wires but a successful forced landing was accomplished. After a further period of absence he scored twice more on the Nieuport, almost certainly N-1531 seen in the colour profile below, before Esc N3 was re-equipped with the SPAD S7 and re-titled Esc Spa3.
In the circumstances remarkably cheerful, Guynemer holds a piece of the propeller which broke up following a mechanical failure. To his left is sous-lieutenant La Tour to his right lieutenant Heurtaux. In naval uniform is Le Prieur, who devised the rocket and scourge of the German baloon line which bore his name.
From mid 1916 Nieuport applied a covering of aluminium dope to protect aircraft fabric from the harmful effects of ultra-violet rays. This example , one of at least three "silver" aircraft flown by Guynemer at this time, represents one of the first appearances of the famous "cigogne" insignia. Variously interpreted as being red or black, after close exhamination of the photographs it is presented here as both. The number "2" is also here associated with Guynemer for the first time and would appear on all his subsequent aircraft. Unusualy "VIEUX CHARLES" is not marked on the airframe but displayed on a fannon flown from the inter-plane vee strut. National cockades are once again carried in six positions and the serial marked on the rudder. The red white and blue painted cone de penetetration was not a true spinner and remained stationary while the engine and propeller rotated.
Nieuport 17 c1 Span 8.16m Length 5.80m Wing Area 14.75 sq m Armament 1 x Vickers Mg Engine 110hp Le Rhone Performance Max Speed 165kph Climb 2000m
in 6.50 min
Flying the flag. Guynemer's Nieuport 17 flys "VIEUX CHARLES" from the vee-strut.
