The Circa Reproductions Nieuports are a family of

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

7/8 scale

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

sesquiplane aircraft replicas designed by Graham Lee of Lamont, Alberta for amateur construction from plans sold by Lee's company Circa Reproductions. Leading Edge Air Foils of

Peyton, Colorado Peyton is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Peyton post ...

at one time also made construction kits available. Lee's Nieuports were among the earliest First World War replicas available and paved the way for later companies to produce plans and kits for a great variety of

warbird A warbird is any vintage military aircraft now operated by civilian organizations and individuals, or in some instances, by historic arms of military forces, such as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the RAAF Museum Historic Flight, or th ...

s.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 194. BAI Communications. Kitplanes Staff: ''1999 Plans Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 16, Number 1, January 1999, page 56. Primedia Publications. IPM 0462012Downey, Julia: ''2003 Plans Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 20, Number 1, January 2003, page 18. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page B-43 Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Raisner, William: ''LEAF catalog'', pages 409-412. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 97. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X The aircraft's design was attributed to "the result of many years of affection for WWI type aircraft and a "too limited" flying budget."

Design and development

The Nieuport 11 was the first design in the family and is a 7/8 (87%) scale version of the original French Nieuport 11 ''Bebe'' fighter. The prototype, registered as a Canadian

basic ultralight The Canadian Aviation Regulations define two types of ultralight aircraft: basic ultra-light aeroplane (BULA), and advanced ultra-light aeroplane (AULA). Definition Regulation of ultra-light aircraft in Canada is covered by the Canadian A ...

as C-IRCA, first flew in July 1984. The Nieuport 11 is constructed from

6061-T6 aluminum 6061 ( Unified Numbering System (UNS) designation A96061) is a precipitation-hardened aluminium alloy, containing magnesium and silicon as its major alloying elements. Originally called "Alloy 61S", it was developed in 1935. It has good mechani ...

tubing, supported with

2024-T3 aluminum 2024 aluminium alloy is an aluminium alloy, with copper as the primary alloying element. It is used in applications requiring high strength to weight ratio, as well as good fatigue resistance. It is weldable only through friction welding, and has av ...

gussets, held together with blind rivets. At one point welded steel tube fuselages were also available. The wings, tail and fuselage are then covered with doped

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

. Landing gear is conventional, with spoked mainwheels with bungee suspension. The original design calls for a

tailskid Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

, the same as the World War One original aircraft, but since the skid is impractical on hard surfaced runways, a

tailwheel Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

is optional. The engine

cowling A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...

is a horseshoe shaped semi-circular design. Recommended engines for the aircraft include the

Rotax 447 The Rotax 447 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catlog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. Design and development ...

, the

Rotax 503 The Rotax 503 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catlog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. As of 2011 the Rot ...

Volkswagen air-cooled engine The Volkswagen air-cooled engine is an air-cooled, gasoline-fuelled, boxer engine with four horizontally opposed cast-iron cylinders, cast aluminum alloy cylinder heads and pistons, magnesium-alloy crankcase, and forged steel crankshaft and ...

s and various

Hirth Hirth Engines GmbH is an engine manufacturer based in Benningen, Germany. It is currently a part of the UMS Aero Group. Hirth began manufacturing aero engines in the 1920s, was taken over by Heinkel in WWII to develop the Heinkel-Hirth jet en ...

engines. The designer estimated that the Nieuport 11 would take 400 hours to construct. The aircraft have been described as being "very easy to fly, even by novice pilots." By 2015 over 1200 sets of plans had been sold.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 104. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Operational history

The Nieuport 11 won ''Grand Champion Light Plane'' at Oshkosh in 1989 and the Nieuport 12 won ''Reserve Grand Champion'' at Oshkosh in 1990.

Variants

;Nieuport 11 :Single seat 7/8 scale reproduction of the Nieuport 11 fighter of 1916. First flown in July 1984. Kits were available in ''ultralight'' and ''experimental'' versions to meet United States

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries. In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not req ...

and Experimental amateur-built regulations respectively. The ultralight version uses lighter tubing, engine and wheels to save weight. ;Nieuport 12 :Two seat 7/8 scale reproduction of the Nieuport 12 WWI observation aircraft, first flown in 1989. The designer estimates construction time at 1400 hours. Aircraft has gross weight. Recommended engines include the

Rotax 582 The Rotax 582 is a two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary intake valve, oil-in-fuel or oil injection pump, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive aircraft engine manufactured by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It is for use in non-certified aircraft operating ...

Continental A65 The Continental O-170 engine is the collective military designation for a family of small aircraft engines, known under the company designation of A50, A65, A75 and A80. The line was designed and built by Continental Motors commencing in the 194 ...

Lycoming O-145 The Lycoming O-145 is a family of small, low-horsepower, four-cylinder, air-cooled engines. It was Lycoming Engines' first horizontally opposed aircraft engine and was produced from 1938 until the late 1940s. The family includes the reduction-ge ...

. ;Nieuport 17 :Single seat 7/8 scale reproduction of the Nieuport 17 WWI fighter aircraft. This variant is similar to the Nieuport 11, but with a greater wingspan and a completely circular engine cowling. The designer estimates construction time at 400 hours.

Specifications (Nieuport 11 Bebe)

References

External links