__NOTOC__ The Nieuport-Delage NiD 42 was a

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

built in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the early 1920s, the first in a family of designs that would form the backbone of the French fighter force over the next decade.Taylor 1989, p. 698.''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'' 1985, p. 2612.

Design and development

As first built, the NiD 42 was a highly streamlined

parasol-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

with a

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, ...

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

and an open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

of which a single prototype was built. Soon afterwards, Nieuport-Delage built two examples of a modified version for the 1924 Coupe Beaumont as the NiD 42S,''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'' 1985, p. 2600. on which the main wings were mounted directly to the sides of the upper fuselage at shoulder position with a short subsidiary wing fitted around the undercarriage axle. To further streamline the design, the surface radiators were installed on the upper surface of the wing."The Nieuport-Delage Type 42", p. 461.

Operational history

One of these aircraft was flown by

Joseph Sadi-Lecointe Joseph Sadi-Lecointe (1891 – 1944) was a French aviator, best known for breaking a number of speed and altitude records in the 1920s. Biography Sadi-Lecointe was born on 11 July 1891 at Saint-Germain-sur-Bresle. He learned to fly at the Ze ...

in the race of 22 June and was the only one out of the five entrants to actually finish the course.Hartmann 2006, 10."'Sadi' wins Beaumont Cup."
''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

,'' 26 June 1924, p. 416. Retrieved: 16 September 2012. Indeed, having finished the prescribed six laps of the course, Sadi-Lecointe flew another four laps to break the world speed record over a 500-km closed-course. His average speed in winning the Coupe Beaumont was and over the was , beating the previous record for the latter by . On 15 February the following year, Sadi Lecointe took a NiD 42S up to a speed of and went on to win the 1925 Coupe Beaumont with a NiD 42S on 18 October with an average speed of ."Sadi Lecointi wins Beaumont Cup."
''

,'' 22 October 1925, p. 682. Retrieved: 16 September 2012. While the NiD 42S was achieving these distinctions, development continued on the fighter version. Nieuport-Delage designed two further such variants in 1924; a single-seater designated NiD 42 C.1 and a similar machine with a second cockpit for a tail gunner with a machine gun in a ring mount, designated the NiD 42 C.2. One of the latter was exhibited at that year's ''

Salon de l'Aéronautique The Paris Air Show (french: Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace de Paris-Le Bourget, Salon du Bourget) is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France. Organized by the French ...

'', along with a NiD 42 C.1 nose section to illustrate an alternative engine mount."The Paris Aero Show 1924" 1924, p. 774. These differed from the original NiD 42 fighter in having a second, small wing added to the lower fuselage, turning the parasol monoplane into a sesquiplane, a design feature adopted from the NiD 37Hartmann 2006, p. 15. which would be a key identifying feature through most of the versions developed from the 42. Only two examples of the two-seater were built, but Nieuport-Delage entered the single-seater in the 1925 ''concours des monoplaces'', a competition by the Army's Technical Service to find a replacement for the NiD 29. The NiD 42 was selected from a field of eleven competitors, and an order for 50 aircraft was placed, of which 25 were eventually delivered. Although impressive at the time it was designed, technology had already surpassed the NiD 42 when it entered service in 1928, particularly with regard to its wooden structure, and most of the development work associated with the design was made in an effort to cure it of a tendency to enter a flat spin. Nevertheless, it provided the foundation for further development as the NiD 52 and NiD 62.Taylor and Alexander 1969, p. 117.

Variants

; NiD 42: prototype single-seat parasol-wing monoplane fighter with

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 ...

(one built) ; NiD 42S: shoulder-wing monoplane racer with

(two built) ; NiD 42 C.1: Nieuport_Delage_NiD_44_C

single-seat sesquiplane fighter with

(27 built, mostly for French AF, includes two for the Turkish Air Force ; NiD 42 C.2: two-seat sesquiplane fighter with

(two built) ; NiD 44 C.1: prototype sesquiplane fighter, powered by a Lorraine 12Ew W-12 engine, to test alternate engine (one built) ; NiD 46 C.1: Nieuport_Delage_NiD_46_C

prototype sesquiplane fighter with

Hispano-Suiza 12Gb 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 ...

to test alternate engine (one built) ; NiD 52 C.1: version for

Spanish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December , equipment ...

with

(126 built, including 125 under licence in Spain) ; NiD 62 C.1: production fighter version for French military with

(322 built) ; NiD 621 : advanced trainer powered by a

(three built) ; NiD 622 : production fighter powered by a

(314 built) ; NiD 623 : speed record aircraft modified from 62 powered by a

Lorraine 12Fd Courlis The Lorraine 12F Courlis was a W-12 (broad arrow) aero engine introduced in France in 1929. It was not widely used. Design and development In 1926 Lorraine introduced a series of V-12 and W-12 engines with steel cylinders screwed into alumi ...

W-12 engine, (one built) ; NiD 624 : experimental altitude aircraft powered by a

W-12 engine, (one built) ; NiD 626 : variant for Peru with

Lorraine 12Hdr Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

V-12 engine (12 built) ; NiD 628 : testbed for testing Farman turbocharger powered by a

Hispano-Suiza 12Mc The Hispano-Suiza 12M was one of two new V-12 engine designs first run in 1927–1928. It produced about 375 kW (500 hp), was the first to use gas nitride hardening and introduced wet cylinder liners into Hispano-Suiza's aircraft engi ...

(two built) ; NiD 629 : production fighter powered by a

Hispano-Suiza 12Mdsh The Hispano-Suiza 12M was one of two new V-12 engine designs first run in 1927–1928. It produced about 375 kW (500 hp), was the first to use gas nitride hardening and introduced wet cylinder liners into Hispano-Suiza's aircraft engi ...

(50 built for French) ; NiD 72 C.1 : metalized version for Belgium and Brazil 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 these ...

(16 built for Brazil and Belgium) ; NiD 82 C.1 : metalized prototype with

and entirely new wing and tail (one built)

Operators

; *

Belgian Air Force The Belgian Air Component ( nl, Luchtcomponent, french: Composante air) is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force ( nl, Belgische Luchtmacht; french: Force aérienne belg ...

; *

Brazilian Air Force "Wings that protect the country" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Hino dos Aviadores , mascot = , anniversaries = 22 May (anniver ...

; * ''

Aéronautique Militaire The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Arm ...

'' ** '' 2e Régiment d'Aviation'' ** '' 3e Régiment d'Aviation'' ** '' 38e Régiment d'Aviation'' * French Aéronavale ; *

Peruvian Air Force The Peruvian Air Force ( es, link=no, Fuerza Aérea del Perú, FAP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with defending the nation and its interests through the use of air power. Additional missions include assistance in safeguardin ...

; *

Spanish Republican Air Force 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 M ...

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 ...

; *

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force ( tr, ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turkish Air Force can trace its origins back to June 1911 when it was founded by the Ottoman Empire, however, the air force as it is known t ...

Specifications (NiD 42 C1)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * Hartmann, Gérard
"Les avions Nieuport-Delage."
''La Coupe Schneider et hydravions anciens/Dossiers historiques hydravions et moteurs,'' 2006. *

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft The ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'' was a weekly partwork magazine by Aerospace Publishing (an imprint of Orbis Publishing) which was published in the United Kingdom (and sold in other countries too) during the early 1980s. The magazine ...

'' (Part Work 1982-1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985. * Parmentier, Bruno
"Nieuport-Delage NiD-42."
''Aviafrance - Un siècle d'aviation française,'' 27 August 2000. * Taylor, John W. R. and Jean Alexander. ''Combat Aircraft of the World''. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. . * Taylor, Michael J. H. ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation''. London: Studio Editions, 1989. . *

External links

,'' 24 July 1924, pp. 461–462.
"The Paris Aero Show 1924."
''

,'' 11 December 1924, pp. 766–777. {{Nieuport aircraft 1920s French fighter aircraft 042 Sesquiplanes