| Nieuport IV | |
|---|---|
 Nieuport IV.G of theAir Battalion Royal Engineers | |
| General information | |
| Type | Sporting and military monoplane |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Nieuport |
| Status | retired |
| Primary users | Imperial Russian Air Service |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1911–1915 |
| Introduction date | 1911 |
| First flight | 1911 |
| Developed from | Nieuport III |
| Variant | Nieuport VI |
TheNieuport IV was aFrench-built sporting,training andreconnaissancemonoplane of the early 1910s.
Societe Anonyme des EtablissementsNieuport was formed in 1909 byÉdouard Nieuport. The Nieuport IV was a development of the single-seatNieuport II and two seatNieuport III.A. It was initially designed as a two-seat sporting and racing monoplane, but was also bought by the air forces of several countries. It was initially powered by a 50 hp (37 kW)Gnome Omegarotary engine, which was later replaced by more powerful rotaries.[1]
The first Nieuport IVs were built in 1911 and production continued well intoWorld War I in Russia.[2]The design was adopted in small numbers by most air arms of the period, although the Imperial Russian Air Service was the largest user.
The IV.G was one of the principal aircraft used by theImperial Russian Air Service during its formative years, with roughly 300 being produced locally by theRusso-Baltic Wagon Works andShchetinin in St. Petersburg, and theDux Factory in Moscow.[3] Lt.Pyotr Nesterov performed the first ever loop, overKiev in a model IV.G on 27 August 1913 for which he was placed under arrest for 10 days for "undue risk to government property" until the feat was repeated in France byAdolphe Pégoud; Nesterov was then awarded a medal and a promotion.[4]
The French government equipped a single squadron with Nieuport IV.Ms,Escadrille N12 initially based atReims, having purchased at least 10. This unit continued to operate Nieuport monoplanes after the start ofWorld War I, slowly replacing them with other types as attrition reduced their numbers.[5]
TheSwedish Air Force was presented with a IV.G in 1912 by four individuals, becoming one of the first aircraft of that force,[1] which was later joined by a second IV.G in 1913, and a IV.H transferred from the Swedish Navy.[6]
TheJapanese Army operated one IV.G and one IV.M, which were designated as Army Nieuport NG2 aeroplane and Army Nieuport NM aeroplane respectively,[7] with the NG being flown in the Tsingtao campaign in September and October 1914 alongside fourMaurice Farman MF.11s.[8]
One of the first batch of aircraft purchased by the British Army'sAir Battalion Royal Engineers (the precursor to theRoyal Flying Corps) was a Nieuport IV.G and serialed B4. Additional IV.G monoplanes were purchased from private individuals including one fromClaude Grahame-White and another fromCharles Rumney Samson, plus three others.[9][10] The Nieuport IVs were in service when the RFC carried out an investigation into monoplane crashes. While this report covered an accident involving a Nieuport IV, it determined the accident to be a result of improper maintenance which lead to engine failure, rather than a structural failure such as with theBristol monoplane andDeperdussin monoplane whose structural deficiencies led to theMonoplane Ban.[11]
Argentina purchased a single IV.G namedla Argentina which served with the Escuela de Aviation Militaire.[12]
In Greece, a IV.G was bought privately and namedAlkyon. After being the first aircraft to fly in Greece, it was resold to the government which used it during theFirst Balkan War in 1912, flying from Larissa.[12]
Siam purchased 4 IV.Gs which were used as trainers atDon Muang airfield.[13]
Spain purchased one IV.G and 4 IV.Ms which were used by the Escuela Nieuport de Pau for training before 3 were transferred to an operational school (Escuela) atTetuán, (Spanish Morocco) which then moved toZeluán, remaining operational until 1917.[6]
Italy's 1st Flottiglia Aeroplani of Tripoli operated several Nieuport IV.Gs during theItalo-Turkish War, one of which became the first aeroplane to be used in combat when it flew a reconnaissance mission against Turkish forces on 23 October 1911.[14] It narrowly missed out to aBleriot XI with the same unit for the honor of being the first aircraft to drop a bomb on enemy forces. The pilot who carried out this mission, Capt. Maizo, also became one of the first victims of anti-aircraft fire when he was shot down by an Austrian cannon weeks before the war ended in 1912.[14]
Two officers of the former Spanish Air Force,Emilio Herrera andJosé Ortiz Echagüe, Captains of the Corps of Engineers of the1st Expeditionary Air Squadron, on February 14th, 1914, crossed theStrait of Gibraltar in a Nieuport IV.M, a flight between Tetouan (Morocco) and Seville (Spain), being the first intercontinental flight of the aviation history.[15]
That day,[16] Captains Herrera and Ortiz Echagüe took off fromTetouan, then the capital of theSpanish Protectorate in Morocco, at 1:30 p.m. and landed atTablada Aerodrome (Seville) shortly after 6 p.m., thus taking almost 5 hours to cover the 208 kilometers in a straight line that separate the two cities. For the first time in history, an aeroplane crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, and for the first time an intercontinental flight was also made.
Despite not being a very long flight, they had to face numerous difficulties. The worst thing was the strong winds blowing in the Strait of Gibraltar, considering the limitations of their Nieuport IV-M (80-horsepower Gnome engine). The opposition of the Riffian tribesmen to the Protectorate in the form of continuous attacks to the Spaniards (which will end in theRif War) was another element of danger and the British government, prohibited the two pilots from flying overGibraltar.
The aviators, on leaving Tetouan, had to fly along the Martín River to its mouth, flying at a height of only 200 metres. Then they skirted the African coast until they reached Ceuta, where they raised the aircraft to almost 2,000 metres. At this height they crossed the strait whipped by a strong easterly wind. After entering the peninsula and rising a little higher to clear the mountains, they sighted Jerez, and from there headed for Seville, where they entered following the line of the Guadalquivir.
At the Tablada Aerodrome His Majesty KingAlfonso XIII was waiting for them, to whom they delivered a message from the High Commissioner of Spain in Morocco. It was one of the first milestones of Spanish aviation, which in the following decade would experience its golden age with the great air raids.
The Swedish Air Force maintained their first model IV in airworthy condition until 1965.[17] This aircraft is now preserved in theFlygvapenmuseum at Malmen near Linköping.[18] TheMuseo del Aire at Cuatro Vientos near Madrid has a full-scale replica of one of their model IVs.[19]
Data from Aviafrance
General characteristics
Performance
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
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