The Airdrome Nieuport 11 is an American

amateur-built aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

, designed and produced by

Airdrome Aeroplanes Airdrome Aeroplanes is an American aircraft manufacturer, founded by Robert Baslee, that offers a large selection of kit aircraft for amateur construction. The company is based in Holden, Missouri.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's ...

, of

Holden, Missouri Holden is a city in western Johnson County, Missouri, Johnson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,252 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Holden was laid out in 1857. It was named for Major Nathaniel Holden, a ...

. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 40. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851 The aircraft is a 7/8 scale replica of the

First World War 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 ...

French

Nieuport 11 The Nieuport 11 (or Nieuport XI C.1 in contemporary sources), nicknamed the ''Bébé'', was a French World War I single seat sesquiplane fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage. It was the primary aircraft that ended the Fokker Scourge in ...

''Bebe'' fighter, a key aircraft in ending the Fokker Scourge. The replica is built from modern materials and powered by modern engines.

Design and development

The Airdrome Nieuport 11 features a "V"-strut

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 ...

layout, a single-seat open cockpit, fixed

conventional landing gear 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 ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher c ...

. The aircraft is made from bolted-together

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

tubing, with its flying surfaces covered in 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 ...

. The kit is made up of twelve sub-kits. The Airdrome Nieuport 11 has a wingspan of and a wing area of . It can be equipped with engines ranging from . The standard engine used is the

four stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...

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 co ...

. Building time from the factory-supplied kit is estimated at 375 hours by the manufacturer.

Operational history

Only one example had been completed by December 2011.

Specifications (Nieuport 11)

References

{{Airdrome Aeroplanes Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Sesquiplanes

Design and development

Operational history

Specifications (Nieuport 11)

See also

References