The Nieuport-Delage NiD 52 was a French fighter aircraft of the 1920s. A single-engined
sesquiplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...
, it served with the
Spanish Air Force
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 10 December
, equipment ...
, being operated by both sides of the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
.
[Taylor and Alexander 1969, pp. 117-118.]
Development and design
In 1924
Nieuport
Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.
History
Beginnings
Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...
produced a design for a single-seat
sesquiplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...
fighter of mixed construction, the
Nieuport-Delage NiD 42, which was ordered in small numbers for the French air force, entering service in 1927.
[Donald 1997, p. 688.] Nieuport developed three refined versions in 1927, the all-metal NiD-52 and NiD-72 and the mixed construction
Nieuport-Delage NiD 62
The Nieuport-Delage NiD.62 was a French sesquiplane fighter from the early 1930s. This machine was a descendant of a long line of Nieuport-Delage fighters that were designed and built during the years immediately after World War I. The NiD.62 was ...
. Like the NiD 42 on which it was based, the NiD 52 was powered by a
Hispano-Suiza 12Hb Hispano-Suiza piston aero-engines were predominantly piston engines produced by Hispano-Suiza in France, Spain, and under licence in the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia from the First World War through to the 1950s. Development of these ...
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines.
The fi ...
, but the wooden
monocoque
Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell".
First used for boats, ...
rear fuselage was replaced by an equivalent made of
duralumin
Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''.
Its use as a tra ...
and the wooden wing ribs by light alloy, while retaining a fabric covering. Both the main and secondary wings were of reduced area compared to the NiD-42, and an enlarged tail fitted in an attempt to improve the aircraft's handling. Armament remained two 7.7 mm
Vickers machine gun
The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...
s.
[Donald 1997, p.689.][Green and Swanborough 1990, pp. 80–81.]
The prototype NiD 52 flew in late 1927,
[Green and Swanborough 1990, p.80.] with the NiD 72, which was similar to the NiD 52 but had duralumin skinning on the wing and had a further reduced wing area, and the NiD 62 flying in January 1928.
[Green and Swanborough 1990, p. 81.] Although France preferred the cheaper NiD 62, purchasing it in large numbers, the NiD 52 won a competition for a new fighter for
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
in 1928,
purchasing a licence for the construction of 125 aircraft to be built by
Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...
in their factory at
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
.
The similar NiD 72 was ordered in small numbers by Belgium and Brazil.
[Green and Swanborough 1990, p. 83.]
Operational history
Spain
The Spanish Air Force started to take deliveries of NiD 52s in 1930, production continuing until 1933, equipping three fighter units, ''Grupo'' 11, ''Grupo'' 1 and ''Grupo'' 13. The "Hispano-Nieuport" (as it was known) was unpopular in Spanish service, being described as heavy and unresponsive, while it was slower than expected, with Spanish aircraft only able to reach 225 km/h (140 mph) compared with the 260 km/h (162 mph) claimed by Nieuport. Losses to accidents were heavy, with only 56 remaining when the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
broke out on 18 July 1936.
The majority of the surviving Hispano-Nieuport remained in government hands during the civil war, with only 11 falling into Nationalist hands, including three aircraft that mistakenly landed in Nationalist territory on 21 July. The Republican forces were strengthened by Hispano-Suiza building a further 10 aircraft from spares in August–September 1936.
[Green and Swanborough 1990, pp. 83, 92.]
Until more modern fighters could be obtained, the elderly Hispano-Nieuport was an important part of Republican fighter strength, with Republican and Nationalist NiD 52s facing each other in combat several times in the early months of the war,
[Valverde, M.R]
"Republica Nacional: Nieuport Delage NI-52"(In Spanish).
''Aviones de la guerra civil Española '', 5 April 2005. Retrieved: 21 May 2010. which resulted in at least one case of one Republican unit of NiD 52s attacking another, resulting in the loss of a Hispano-Nieuport.
[Green and Swanborough 1990, p. 92.] The Republican NiDs soon found themselves outclassed by more modern
Fiat CR.32 and
Heinkel He 51
The Heinkel He 51 was a Nazi Germany, German single-seat biplane which was produced in a number of different versions. It was initially developed as a Fighter aircraft, fighter; a seaplane variant and a Ground-attack aircraft, ground-attack ...
fighters operated by the Italian
Aviazione Legionaria
The Legionary Air Force ( it, Aviazione Legionaria, es, Aviación Legionaria) was an expeditionary corps from the Italian Royal Air Force that was set up in 1936. It was sent to provide logistical and tactical support to the Nationalist facti ...
and the German
Condor Legion
The Condor Legion (german: Legion Condor) was a unit composed of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany, which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939. The Condor Legio ...
supporting the Nationalists, with it being claimed that three NiD 52s could just about hold their own against a single Fiat CR.32. Despite this, most losses were from accidents, not combat, particularly when being flown by foreign Volunteer pilots not used to the difficult handling.
[Green and Swanborough 1990, pp. 92–93.]
The NiD 52 was withdrawn from the front line during the winter of 1936–37, being relegated to training and coastal patrol, although they were briefly pressed back into combat following the
Battle of Guadalajara
The Battle of Guadalajara (March 8–23, 1937) saw the victory of the People's Republican Army (''Ejército Popular Republicano'', or EPR) and of the International Brigades over the Italian and Nationalist forces attempting to encircle Madrid d ...
, being used to attack the retreating Italians.
[Green and Swanborough 1990, p. 93.] No NiD 52s survived the war.
Brazil
When the
Constitutionalist Revolution
The Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 (sometimes also referred to as Paulista War or Brazilian Civil War) is the name given to the uprising of the population of the Brazilian state of São Paulo against the Brazilian Revolution of 1930 when ...
began in Brazil on 9 July 1932, Brazil had two NiD 72s still serviceable, both of which served with the ''Legalista'' forces loyal to President
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...
. On 21 August 1932, however, Captain Adherbal de Costa Oliveria defected to the ''Constitucionalist'' rebels. Both NiD 72s were heavily used until the end of the uprising.
[Flores 1988, pp. 71–73.]
Variants
;Nieuport-Delage NiD 52
:Single-seat fighter aircraft.
;Nieuport-Delage NiD 72 C.1
:Improved version of the NiD 52. Three aircraft were delivered to Belgium in 1929, four modified aircraft were delivered to Brazil in 1931. One aircraft modified from a NiD-62 was powered by a
Hispano-Suiza 12Lb Hispano-Suiza piston aero-engines were predominantly piston engines produced by Hispano-Suiza in France, Spain, and under licence in the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia from the First World War through to the 1950s. Development of thes ...
V-12 engine.
;Nieuport-Delage NiD 82
:This prototype was powered at first by a 600 hp (447 kW)
Hispano-Suiza 12Lb Hispano-Suiza piston aero-engines were predominantly piston engines produced by Hispano-Suiza in France, Spain, and under licence in the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia from the First World War through to the 1950s. Development of thes ...
engine. Later it was fitted with a 500 hp (373 kW)
Lorraine 12Ha Pétrel engine.
Operators
;
:
Aviation Militaire Belge (3 NiD.72, evaluation only)
;
:
Aviação Militar (4 NiD.72)
;
:
Aeronautica Militara Romana (3 NiD.72, evaluation only)
;
:
Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española
The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939.
Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics ('' Aeronáutica ...
(NiD.52)
;
:
Aviación Nacional
A Caudron C.286 of the Nationalist Spanish Air Force
The terms "Aviación Nacional" ("Nationalist Aviation"), "Fuerza Aérea Nacional" ("Nationalist Air Force") and "Ejército Nacional del Aire" ("Nationalist Army of the Air") refer to military a ...
(NiD.52)
Specifications (NiD 52)
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
NiD 52 in action(Spanish)
{{Nieuport aircraft
1920s French fighter aircraft
052
Sesquiplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1927