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UK_Widowmaker

N17-Bis Campaign

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Just started a campaign in the N17.

I've never really taken the aircraft seriously...but I'm getting Kills...and avoiding the Germans too...very nimble fighter!

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Yeah, that's one craft I have also avoided so far.

It must be very agile and sure has a good lift ratio, but that TV frame in front of you - naw!

Albert George Falla? Your name is Simon, as I think I have read - was that your grand dad?

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Nieuport Sesquiplanes are tricksy little buggers, the same lightness and relative ease that they can be flicked, about is also dangerous in combat because they are kinda flimsy. You don't want to dive them very fast, best to lose altitude with a series of split-esses and quick vertical turns. They are, (were) my favorite plane in RedBaron3D. I had one campaign persona who started with the N10 and finished with the N27.

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You should take them seriously, always. Especially in 1916 they are absolutely deadly. When the N.17 comes into service in the summer of 1916, it eats German aircraft for breakfast. They really have nothing comparable until the Albatros D.II comes into service. There's the Halberstadt of course, but the Nupes are better.

 

The N.17 is one of my favourite fighters.

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I've never really taken the aircraft seriously......!

 

That's a very curious thing to say Widowmaker. Why haven't you? Very interested to know the reasons why.

 

I have to admit to being very fond of the Nieuport 11 and 17 marks. Comparatively they are as good as anything the Germans can put in the air up to early 1918. If I fly Allied I naturally choose Nieuport Squadrons rather than those equipped with the Camel or Se.5. The only Allied aeroplane I enjoy flying and fighting more is the Tripe. :)

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The SE5a and the Camel are the Allied planes I fly the best in....how come the BIS is a fair bit slower than the Lewis version?

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And historically speaking, the RFC would have been in trouble without these French fighters. Before the Sopwith Pup, the British fighters were mostly crap. And the DH.2 was certainly no Spitfire... :grin:

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The SE5a and the Camel are the Allied planes I fly the best in....how come the BIS is a fair bit slower than the Lewis version?

 

The weight of the Vickers and it's interrupter gear, I'd think. They were not a aircraft with a lot of wing area.

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....how come the BIS is a fair bit slower than the Lewis version?

I'm not at all a Nieuport expert, but doesn't the N 17bis have two guns, while the N 17 Lewis carries only one?

Two guns are a lot heavier for engines of that time to carry in such airframes. That could slow the craft down IMHO.

Edited by Olham

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From Mason's book "The Escadrille Lafayette", The early N17's that Esc. N124 received were delivered to Luxeiul without any guns. The base CO had to drive up to the Nieuport factory, and track down enough guns and interrupter mechanisms to get their squad up and fighting. There was a couple of conversions done to mount the over wing Lewis, but Kiffin and Lufberry were particularly annoyed with the small amount of ammo carried in the drum of the Mk1 Lewis and the struggle it was to change the cartridge drum while in flight.

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That's a very curious thing to say Widowmaker. Why haven't you? Very interested to know the reasons why.

 

I have to admit to being very fond of the Nieuport 11 and 17 marks. Comparatively they are as good as anything the Germans can put in the air up to early 1918. If I fly Allied I naturally choose Nieuport Squadrons rather than those equipped with the Camel or Se.5. The only Allied aeroplane I enjoy flying and fighting more is the Tripe. :)

 

I'm not sure really Pips...I suppose it's cos I'm an SE5a / Camel flyer usually...and the visibility is not brilliant in the Nieuports...I have probably neglected the Spad as well for the same reason

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I neglect the Spad because of visibility aswell.

 

Oh just realised it had an extra gun....I always look at it's speed and it seemed a little to slow compared to the AlbII's. Still the N17 was Ball's favourite...

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I also notice the N26 and N27 (I think thats the numbers, anyway there are Nieuports that have no description ) yet they just give the N24 description....what were the differences between them?

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I also notice the N26 and N27 (I think thats the numbers, anyway there are Nieuports that have no description ) yet they just give the N24 description....what were the differences between them?

 

Generally, and it's quite literally "generally" as there were more versions of the later types than you can shake a stick at. The N23/N24 had former and stringer rounded fuselages past the cockpits, but usually retained the comma rudder and trapezoid shaped horizontal tails. They also uprated from the LeRhone 110 hp to the LeRhone 130 or the Clerget 130.

 

The N27 'generally' had the same features as the N23/24 but also had the Nieuport 28's tail shapes with the fin and rudder and arc shaped stab and elevator. These planes would be delivered with whatever armament the squads would request, either twin Vickers, single Vickers, with a Forster mount Lewis or just the Vickers or just the Lewis. Also remember that the first N28's the fledgling AEF corps got were often without any guns.

Edited by Lewie

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Slower because of the extra gun and ammo weight and extra drag.

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I'm not sure really Pips...I suppose it's cos I'm an SE5a / Camel flyer usually...and the visibility is not brilliant in the Nieuports...I have probably neglected the Spad as well for the same reason

 

Why do people think the Nieuports had bad visibility? The upper wing had a generous cockpit cutout, and it wasn't that far above the fuselage. Not anything like the Albatross DI, and it also had the thin chord lower wing, which helped with low visibility. Compared to the Sopwith Pup they were fine.

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All this maybe just a matter of taste?

You sit in the crate, fly it and you see how you feel in it. For me, the Albatros was love at first sight.

 

The SPAD XIII has a much worse view, that's true - but I can enjoy the SPAD, when I fly it differently.

Attack, climb out, gain total overview, select next target, attack - and so on.

The speed and climb, which can carry you out of almost anything, are great to enjoy.

 

For the Nupes, I think you must have "the soul of a turn fighter".

I never felt comfortable in the crate, but I will try it again.

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.

 

Nupe 17 is one of my favs, but then I'm a turn fighter at heart.

 

.

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For you as a turnfighter, I guess, these craft should be your favourites:

Pup, Nupes, Triplane, Camel - and maybe the Dr.1, although she needs special treatment.

Twoseats: Brisfit

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.

 

Absolutely Olham, those are the ones for me, with King Camel leading the pack. But I've been practicing a bit more with the DR1 and it is pretty amazing once you've sort out it's own little idiosyncrasies.

 

.

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Well, I know you love your Camel, like I love my Albatros - but if I was a turnfighter by heart,

I would pick the Dr.1. That craft can do amazing things.

We cannot directly do the flat turn Voss used against the S.E.5a - the sim is of a type that doesn't

allow that - but if you put your nose down, you can almost rotate around your vertical center axis,

without moving much anywhere. So the speed, in which that beast is able to fire at an opponent

again, is IMHO unbeaten by any WW1 craft.

 

But then, flying one's kite has also a lot do do with our love.

And my love belongs to the Albatros - as yours belongs to the Camel.

So we may have great one-night-stands with the Fokker - but without becoming unfaithful to our love.

Edited by Olham

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