N 17 Bis

[Ras 0]

I flew the N 17 Bis (with the two machine guns) in QC and found it in one Esc (can't remember the number right now) but it was not available. Wondering if it is someplace else -I will look again...or is it perhpas just available in Quick combat? Thanks. Now that sweet little bird has some firepower

[Olham 164]

"Muszt I bee vorried now? Twin gunzz on der Nieuport 17? Firink ssrough der propellor???!"

[Ras 0]

Check out the Hat in the Ring area where they show the new aircraft added; It says, "• Nieuport N.17 Bis based on the n24 design, the n.17 bis unusually for nieuports sported two guns, Lewis over wing and Vickers!" You can fly for the French, go into Quick Combat and give it a try.

[Hector 0]

Ras

There is one if you fly "6 RNAS" approx March 1917(iirc).There are probably others but this is the first one i came across.

Hope it helps

 

Hector

[Ras 0]

Ras

There is one if you fly "6 RNAS" approx March 1917(iirc).There are probably others but this is the first one i came across.

Hope it helps

 

Hector

 

 

Thanks. I kept looking for it in the French area. Much appreciated.

[Bullethead 12]

It says, "• Nieuport N.17 Bis based on the n24 design, the n.17 bis unusually for nieuports sported two guns, Lewis over wing and Vickers!" You can fly for the French, go into Quick Combat and give it a try.

 

As I understand things, Nieuport at this time was tryng to squeeze blood from a stone. They are the classic examle of trying to doing things quickly and cheaply.

 

Nieuport had been riding their prewar designs, in slightly modified form but with great success, into late-1916. Up until then, they'd had no serious competition for scout contracts, the rest of the Aviation Militaire being mostly pushers of various sorts, or Parasols. Thus, the ante bellum N.10 had been shrunk into tine N.11. Shortly thereafter, slapping a bigger engine on the N.11 airframe produced the N.16. However, that engine was too heavy for N.11 wings to carry with the same agility as before, so they'd slightly stretched the N.11 airframe in all dimensions (while keeping the N.16 engine) to make the N.17.

 

In this paragraph, you must forgive my VERY bad French, because I'm only half-way literate in the Cajun dialetct, which is a VERY BAD approximation of true French. Besides, I'm several fingers of whiskey over the line right now. Suffice to say, about this time, the acronym SPAD re-emerged in French aviation with a differetn meaning. Originally, it had meant Societe' pour l'Avions Deperdussin, but M. Deperdussin had just been jailed for fraud. His company pressed on regardless, however, and now called itself Societe' pour l'Aviation et ces Deriviete's. They produced the SPAD VII, which had much greater speed and no worse firepower than contemporary Nupes, and much more room for further improvements.

 

For the 1st time facing legit competition at short notice, Nieuport tried to prolong the service life of its essentially pre-war design by what amounted to minor aerodynamic refinements and yet further power increases. They redesigned the N.17 with a slightly bigger moter and tried to streamline it. This redesign entailed rounding off all sharp corners on the N.17 airframe, at wings, tail, and fuselage. The total package was the N.24, but the refinements of each component were introduces 1 at a time. As things turned out, the fuselage came first, then the wings, and finally the tail. But the whole thing was designed at once, which resulted in some strange nomenclature.

 

The N.24 fuselage was available 1st, so planes with this and the N.17 wings and tail were N.17bis. The French didn't think this worth the trouble but the RNAS got some and retained the upper wing Lewis. This was trading maneuverability for firepower. The next plane was supposed to have had all the other new parts and be the N.24. However, the new tail was still a problem. Thus, as a stopgap, they built the N.24bis, which had the N.24 fuselage and wings but the N.17 tail. A few months later, the N.24 tail was ready to go and so the complete N.24 finally entered production and squadron service, but the N.24bis came first. Confusing, eh?