Nieuport Nighthawk
Nieuport & General Aircraft · United Kingdom · first flew 1919 · fighter
The Nieuport Nighthawk was a British single-seat biplane fighter developed by Nieuport & General Aircraft towards the end of the First World War. It was intended to replace the Sopwith Snipe in Royal Air Force service.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 5.64 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Wooden two-bay biplane fighter
- Nine-cylinder ABC Dragonfly radial engine in the nose
- Two fixed forward-firing .303 in Vickers machine guns
Look for a compact single-seat wooden two-bay biplane with a radial engine in the nose.
Specifications
- The Nieuport Nighthawk has a length of 5.64 m (19 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 8.53 m (28 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 243 km/h (151 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Henry Folland designed it to RAF Specification Type 1, around the ABC Dragonfly radial engine. An order for 150 was placed in August 1918 before any prototype had flown, and the first prototype flew in April or May 1919. The Dragonfly proved very unreliable and prone to overheating.
Variants
A version with a 450 hp Napier Lion II engine and new single-bay wings flew on 20 June 1921, and the Nighthawk led to the Gloster Sparrowhawk.
Where you'll see it
Because of the engine problems it did not enter large-scale RAF service. Re-engined aircraft served in Greece from 1923 to 1938.
Related aircraft
- Nieuport & General B.N.1
- Nieuport London
- Armstrong Whitworth Ara
- Armstrong Whitworth Siskin
- Blériot-SPAD S.XXII
- Boeing MB-3A
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