| Nieuport 17 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Fighter |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Nieuport |
| First flight | January 1916 |
| Introduction | March 1916 |
| Status | Retired |
| Primary users | Aéronautique Militaire Imperial Russian Air Service Royal Flying Corps |
| Number built | c. 3,600 |
| Developed from | Nieuport 11 |
| Variants | Nieuport 17bis, Nieuport 21 |
The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) is a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier Nieuports and better adapted to the more powerful engine than the interim Nieuport 16. Aside from early examples, it had the new Alkan-Hamy synchronization gear, permitting the use of a fuselage-mounted synchronised Vickers gun firing through the propeller disc.
At the time of its introduction in March 1916, the type's outstanding manoeuvrability and excellent rate of climb gave it a significant advantage over fighters on both sides and was described as "the best pursuit plane of the day".[1][2] It was used by many operators and entered service with every Allied power and copies were also operated by the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte (German Air Service). Mass-produced by several French firms, the Nieuport 17 and its derivatives were built under licence in Italy by Nieuport-Macchi and in Russia by Dux. Unlicensed copies, notably the Siemens-Schuckert D.I and the Euler D.I, were produced in Germany.
The Nieuport 21 and 23 represented relatively minor alterations. Aerodynamic refinement led to the Clerget-powered 17bis. More powerful versions of the Le Rhône rotary engines with detail improvements resulted in the Nieuport 24, 24bis and 27.