National origin: France
Manufacturer: Nieuport
First flight: September 1915
Introduced: 1916
Primary user: Aronautique Militaire
Number built: 100

The Nieuport 14 was a military reconnaissance biplane produced in France during the First World War. When the French Army deployed it in 1916, they found its performance inferior to what was called for in the original specification, and the type was quickly withdrawn from front-line service.

Developed in response to an order by the Aronautique Militaire in summer 1915, it was to have been a two-seat reconnaissance machine capable of making a flight of 300 km and back while carrying a load of bombs. Nieuport's design was based on the Nieuport 12 fighter, but had its fuselage stretched to add a second cockpit in tandem with the pilot's and its wingspan increased by the addition of an additional bay. Power was provided by a single Hispano-Suiza V-8 engine in the nose, driving a tractor propeller.

Deliveries to three reconnaissance squadrons commenced in late 1916, replacing obsolete Voisin types. However, the Nieuport 14's sluggish performance became immediately apparent and these squadrons were re-equipped with Nieuport 17s only eighteen days later and re-deployed as fighter squadrons. Production of the Nieuport 14 was halted, and remaining machines were relegated to training duties once improvements had been made to their side-mounted radiators. These were followed into service by a dedicated trainer variant, the Nieuport 14 xcole with dual controls, a nosewheel to guard against nose-over accidents, and a rotary engine of lower power replacing the V-8 of the original design. It is possible that these airframes had been left over from the original abortive production attempt. When further refined, the trainer version became known as the Nieuport 82, nicknamed Grosse Julie ("Big Julie"), and aside from service in France, examples were exported to Brazil and Japan. Further development would lead to the Nieuport 15.

Three Nieuport 14s were modified for test purposes; one with cutouts in its wings to improve visibility and fitted with a 180 hp Lorraine-Dietrich engine, another with a 150-hp version of the Hispano-Suiza engine originally fitted, and a third with a 220-hp Hispano-Suiza engine and a crescent-shaped wing.

Variants

Nieuport 14 A2 - service designation of reconnaissance aircraft
Nieuport 14 E2 - service designation of trainer
Nieuport 82 E2 - dedicated trainer version

Operators

France

Aeronautique Militaire

Specifications

Data from Sanger 2002, p. 44

General characteristics

Crew: Two, pilot and observer
Length: 7.90 m (25 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 11.90 m (39 ft 1 in)
Height: 3.20 m (10 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 30.0 m (323 ft)
Empty weight: 620 kg (1,400 lb)
Gross weight: 970 kg (2,100 lb)
Powerplant: 1 x Hispano-Suiza liquid-cooled V-8, 100 kW (140 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 155 km/h (97 mph)
Endurance: 4 hours

Armament

1 x trainable .303 Lewis gun in rear cockpit for observer
small load of bombs

Hartmann, Grard (2006). "Les Nieuport de la guerre". La Coupe Schneider et hydravions anciens/Dossiers historiques hydravions et moteurs. http://www.hydroretro.net/etudegh/les_nieuports_de_la_guerre.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-11-07.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. London: Orbis Publishing.
Sanger, Ray (2002). Nieuport Aircraft of World War One. Ramsbury: Crowood.
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.

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Source: WikiPedia