Engineering:Nieuport Madon

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Short description: French WW1 fighter aircraft
Nieuport Madon
Nieuport Madon WW1 prototype.jpg
Nieuport Madon prototype with wing root opening visible
Role Fighter
National origin France
Manufacturer Nieuport
First flight December 1918
Number built 2

In October 1917 Nieuport began construction of a prototype monoplane fighter known as the Nieuport Madon, a strut braced monoplane.[1]

Design and development

The tapered shoulder mounted wing was supported by lift struts attached to the landing gear, which featured an additional constant chord lifting area between the wheels. A section of wing root was cut away to improve downward visibility.[1] The fuselage and wing were fabric covered. It was armed with two synchronized 7.7 mm (0.30 in) Vickers machine guns.[2] The first prototype made its first flight in early January 1918 while powered by a 110 kW (150 hp) Gnome Monosoupape 9N rotary engine,[1] the same engine used in the Nieuport 28.

The second prototype first flew in late January 1918 with the slightly more powerful 130 kW (180 hp) Le Rhône 9R.[2] This aircraft had a revised wing whose inboard trailing edges were cut away and it had an elongated fin. On 1 May 1918 the second prototype was rejected in favour of the Monosoupape powered model.[1]

The Nieuport Madon was not officially accepted but would be refined through the Nieuport 31[1] the Nieuport-Delage Sesquiplan and eventually into the Nieuport-Delage NiD 62 which was still in second line service in 1940.

Nieuport Madon circa 1918

Specifications

Data from The Complete Book of Fighters [1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 6.4 m (21 ft 0 in)
  • Wingspan: 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
  • Height: 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)
  • Wing area: 17.5 m2 (188 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 433 kg (955 lb)
  • Gross weight: 703 kg (1,550 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Gnome Monosoupape 9N 9-cylinder air-cooled rotary piston engine, 110 kW (150 hp)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 220 km/h (140 mph, 120 kn)
  • Endurance: 2 hours
  • Time to altitude: Time to 4,000 m (13,000 ft) - 13 min.

Armament

  • Guns: 2x synchronized 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Vickers machine guns

See also

References

Citations

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Green, W.; Swanborough, G. (2001). The Complete Book of Fighters. Salamander Books. ISBN 978-1840652697. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Bruno Parmentier (7 March 2006). "Nieuport Madon". http://www.aviafrance.com/nieuport-madon-aviation-france-10037.htm. 

Bibliography

  • Bruce, J.M. (1988). Nieuport Aircraft of World War One - Vintage Warbirds No 10. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-934-2. 
  • Davilla, Dr. James J.; Soltan, Arthur M. (1997). French Aircraft of the First World War. Stratford, Connecticut: Flying Machines Press. ISBN 0-9637110-4-0. 
  • The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Built and Flown (Revised and Updated ed.). London: Salamander Books. 2001. ISBN 1-84065-269-1. 
  • Owers, Colin A. (2020). French Warplanes of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Gret War Aviation Centennial Series (43). 1: Fighters. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-93-3.