Nieuport 12

what is it?

The Nieuport 12 (or Nieuport XII in contemporary sources) was a French sesquiplane reconnaissance, fighter aircraft and trainer used by France, Russia, Great Britain and the United States during World War I. Later production examples were built as trainers and served widely until the late 1920s.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · tail-skid gear · 9 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 146 km/htop speed
• range 500 kmwithout refuelling
• size 825 kgmax take-off weight
• built 300made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 111 years ago, in 1915.
• 🚗Wingspan of 9 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1915

introduced

1915

status

retired

number built

300

role

reconnaissance(artillery)/fighter/trainer

makers

Nieuport

engines

1× Clerget 9Z / Clerget 9B

length

7.1 m

wingspan

9 m

height

2.7 m

max take-off weight

825 kg

top speed

146 km/h

range

500 km

ceiling

4,000 m

landing gear

tail-skid gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.