Saturday, October 22, 2011

United States - 1918 Nieuport 28 C1

The Four American Nieuport 28 Squadrons

I took a break from the Morane-Saulniers and tackled a much needed master file for the Nieuport 28 C1. Once it was finished I was able to work up a dozen aircraft. My next step is to finish off the remainder of the examples I have found to round things out.

The Nieuport 28 was assigned to four American Aero Squadrons. The largest number were given to the 94th Aero Squadron. Structural problems with the upper wing made American pilots wary of flying the aircraft as aggressively as they wanted. The Nieuport 28 were soon replaced by the SPAD C1 S.XIII which served the Americans well.

27th Aero Squadron USAS

Nieuport 28 27th Aero Squadron  - 1918
Nieuport 28 - 1918

This example served with the 27th Aero Squadron. The fuselage is painted in the French factory camouflage pattern. The swooping Eagle is the unit insignia. The standard American scheme for placement of national markings was no roundels on the fuselage and a six roundel format. The top wing has roundels on both the top and bottom surfaces, and the lower has roundels on the lower surface only.


94th Aero Squadron USAS

Nieuport 28 94th Aero Squadron - 1918
Nieuport 28 - 1918

This Nieuport was flown by Lt. James.Meissner while serving with the 94th "Hat and Ring" Squadron. The cowling is painted in a scheme designed by the pilot. The color and type of numbers varied. In this case the numbers are black without a border.

95th Pursuit Squadron USAS

Nieuport 28 95th Pursuit Squadron - 1918
Nieuport 28 - 1918

The paint scheme for this Nieuport is a bit flashier than some examples. The red and yellow spiral design on the cowling makes for a striking appearance. The kicking mule insignia for the 95th Pursuit Squadron is shown as white on some profiles and blue on others.



The basic paint scheme for this Nieuport 28 is a fairly standard French pattern. The Terrier insignia for the 147th Aero Squadron is a whimsical touch. The numbers are the block bordered style numbers were used by many squadrons.

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