The Nieuport 28 is unique in aviation history having received considerable fame for being a glorious fighting machine when in truth, it was rejected as a frontline fighter by the French Air service. Because of ready availability it was rushed into production even without customers and was supplied to the American Expeditionary Air Force early in 1918 being the first to carry to carry the U.S. colors into combat- even if it was only for the last two months of WWI !!

Similar to it's predecessors, the Nieuport 28 had a wire-braced, four-longeron wooden fuselage with fabric covering, and wooden framed wings and empennage, with an aluminum tube under-carriage. The tail surfaces were exactly the same as the Nieuport 23, 24, and the 27. Note-worthy was Gustave Delage's radical break with his previous successful design formula when he went with the very elegant and streamlined fuselage with circular section.

The first Nieuport 28s had a single a single Vickers 303 machine gun (British), outboard of the center-section struts. This soon became inadequate, so the upper wing was raised, and a second Vickers 303 was mounted on top of the fuselage. Some Nieuports used the American made Marlin machine-gun.

Described as the 'most elegant airplane of the First World War', the Nieuport 28 was radically different from the familiar line of Nieuport sesquiplane's. The first prototype, which had dihedral on both wings, underwent trials on June 14th, 1917. During the second week of November 1917 it took part in a series of comparative tests with two other prototypes; one of these had flat wings, while the other had dihedral only on the top plane, which was set close to the fuselage.

As a result of these trials a fourth version was evolved which went into production. Its top plane had a slight dihedral angle and was fixed at a more orthodox height above the fuselage and its lower plane was flat. The engine was the 160 h.p. Gnome-Monosoupape 9N rotary neatly installed in a circular cowling fretted with cooling intakes in varying positions.

	Gnome Monosoupape 9N4 9 cylinder air cooled rotary 160 HP engine with a maximum RPM of 1350. This was used in the Nieuport 28 WWI Scout until the availability of the LeRhone
(Images of actual Gnome engine thanks to John Glessner)

The reliability of the Gnome was never outstanding, which is why the LeRhone was the preferred powerplant. The rotary engines did not have a standard carburetor and could not be throttled back. The pilot literally 'blipped' the engine on and off in order to taxi or land. Turning the ignition on and off like this would be comparable to twisting your ignition key in your car on and off in order to slow down. This took a good sense of timing... and a bit of guts!

The wings were staggered, with elliptical tips: rather unusually, the lower wing carried the ailerons. Two pine spars on which were fitted wire-braced wooden ribs made up the basic wing shape; the thin-sectioned leading-edges were covered with plywood veneer, to which was tacked the fabric wing covering. The interplane and center-section struts, of wood, were set closely together in side elevation.

The slim and comparatively long fuselage was given a circular cross-section by means of wooden formers and longitudinal stringers; it was fabric-covered, except for the plywood portion between the cowling and the rear of the cockpit. Two inspection panels of sheet duraluminum were provided on each side.

The pilot sat fairly high in the cramped cockpit, inadequately protected by a small windshield; behind his shoulders was a streamlined fairing. The strut-braced tail-plane, the elevators and balanced rudder were of wood-and-fabric construction.

Steel-tube undercarriage struts, streamlined with wooden fairing's, were fitted; the tail-skid was internally sprung. Two synchronized Vickers guns were provided. Owing to the narrowness of the center section, one gun was mounted on top of the fuselage to port and the other was set on a shelf below the port struts of the center section.

Limited numbers of Nieuport 28s were used by the French Flying Service. The Nieuport 28 is more famous, however, as being the Scout which equipped the first American fighter squadrons. Two hundred and ninety-seven were purchased by the American Expeditionary Force, the first delivery being in March 1918.

On April 14th. 1918. Lieutenants D. Campbell and A. Winslow of the 94th 'Hat-in-the-Ring' Squadron shot down a German single-seater apiece, the first to fall to an all American unit. Captain E. Rickenbacker- arguably, greatest of the United States aces, scored several of his twenty-six victories in a Nieuport 28.

Nevertheless the little biplane was not popular with American pilots.
Though very maneuverable and with a good rate of climb, when dived too steeply it had a tendency to shed the fabric from the leading-edges of its wings. Steps were taken to strengthen the wing-fabric of the 28, and a satisfactory solution to the problem had been evolved by July 1918. This was too late unfortunately, for by then the Nieuports in the American fighter squadrons had been replaced by sturdier Spad 13s.

SPECS: Wingspan: 26ft 9 in Length: 21 ft Height: 8 ft 13/4 in Weight: 1,627 lb Max speed: 122 mph Ceiling: 16,995 ft Endurance: 1 hr 30 mins Armament: 2 machine guns Crew: 1	Construction Tips! The rear fuselage is really nice when you take the time to score the many stringer lines and carefully form it into a nice rounded shape. Stitch the rigging through the wings with a needle and silver (or heavy black), thread. The three view drawings will help you to locate the 'wires' properly. Dab a bit of glue over the holes to lock it all in place. Sculpt a little Rickenbacker out of clay and place it in the cockpit.
This is one of the Nieuport 28 models you'll get, and if you take your time, it'll come out just a gorgeous as John's with a wingspan of 10" for the large version