| WW1 Nieuport Identification and Colours |
| Scouts | ||||||
| Type (Thumbs link to profiles) | Length O.A. | Span U/L | Wing Area | Engine (hp) | Distinguishing Features | Colours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
7.15m | 8.10/ 6.75m |
18.00m² | 80 Le Rhône |
Complex cabane structure (sometimes had curved cross brace), long fuselage. |    |
 |
5.60m | 7.52/ 7.40m |
13.30m² | 80 Le Rhône |
"Cheeks" behind open ¾ cowl. No headrest. Simpler Cabane than 10. |   |
 |
5.60m | 7.52/ 7.40m |
13.30m² | 110 Le Rhône |
Similar to Nie.11 with headrest and larger opening on Cowl. Small number of late examples had Vickers on fuselage. |  |
 |
5.80m | 8.16/ 7.80m |
14.75m² | 110 Le Rhône |
Molded plywood forward fuselage sides. Headrest. Usually has a full cowl though some early examples had a ¾ cowling. |  |
 |
5.80m | 8.16/ 7.80m |
14.75m² | 110/130 Clerget |
Fuselage stringers and plywood fuselage. Shortest cowl and aerofoil intakes. | |
 |
5.80m | 8.16/ 7.80m |
14.75m² | 80 Le Rhône |
Often misidentified as an 11. Structurally 17, but with engine and cowling of 11 and no headrest. It has the 17 side fairings and not the 11's metal ones. | |
 |
5.80m | 8.16/ 7.80m |
14.75m² | 110/120 Le Rhône |
As Nie.17 but Vickers on starboard and cabane rerigged. Undercarriage and cabane marginally longer than Nie.17. | |
 |
5.87m | 8.21/ 7.82m |
14.75m² | 110-130 Le Rhône |
Lengthened stringered fuselage, new ply tail, new airfoil section and rounded ailerons. |  |
 |
5.87m | 8.21/ 7.82m |
14.75m² | 120/130 Le Rhône |
A Nie.24 with the Nie.17 empennage. | |
 |
5.87m | 8.21/ 7.82m |
14.75m² | 150-200 Clerget |
As per Nie.27 except: Broad U/C struts and cowl, and aerofoil shaped air intakes. Very rare. | |
 |
5.87m | 8.21/ 7.82m |
14.75m² | 120/130 Le Rhône |
Like 24 but sprung tailskid and ½-axle undercarriage pivotted from centre. | |
 |
6.30m | 8.16/ 7.77m |
16.00m² | 160 Gnôme |
Biplane with long stringered fuselage, dihedral on top wing and wing tips fully rounded. |  |
| Artillery Spotters and Bombers | ||||||
| Type | Length O.A. | Span U/L | Wing Area | Engine (hp) | Distinguishing Features | Colours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
7.15m | 8.10/ 6.75m |
18.00m² | 80 Le Rhône |
Complex cabane structure (sometimes had curved cross brace), vertical interplane struts. | |
 |
7.15m | 9.15/ 6.75m |
23.00m² | 110/130 Clerget |
Interplane struts angled outward, Cockpit further back from Nie.10. Early examples had scout type coaming. A few had a 110hp Le Rhône. | |
 |
7.15m | 9.03/ 6.75m |
23.00m² | 110/130 Clerget |
Early versions had no aileron washout, longer bottom wing, new skid and fixed fin, later also had enclosed engine cowling, broader U/C struts. | |
 |
7.15m | 9.15/ 6.75m |
23.00m² | 110/130 Clerget |
Fully faired forward fuselage, fully enclosed cowling, carb intakes aerofoil shaped. | |
 |
7.15m | -/ - | -m² | 110/130 Clerget |
2 versions - Hisso and Le Rhône. As 12 but no sweep, angled out cabane and larger span. Very rare but LeRhone powered example used on special op. | |
 |
7.90m | 12.10/ -m |
30.00m² | 140-180 Hispano- Suiza |
3 similar versions differing in engine and tail skid details. 2 bay wing and outer struts are canted out. Only early prototypes were CDL. | |
 |
7.15m | 9.15/ 6.75m |
23.00m² | 110 Le Rhône |
Similar to 12bis but carb intakes circular and has a horseshoe cowling. Prototype like 12 but with many 10 components. | |
| Trainers | ||||||
| Type | Length O.A. | Span U/L | Wing Area | Engine (hp) | Distinguishing Features | Colours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
7.15m | 9.15/ 6.75m |
23.00m² | 80 Le Rhône |
Based on Nie.12, with single controls. Splayed out interplane struts, often has coaming around cockpits as per very early Nie.12. Aileron control rods vertical as per Nie.12. | |
 |
7.15m | 9.15/ 6.75m |
23.00m² | 80 Le Rhône |
Based on Nie 12 with dual controls. Same as Nie.80 but aileron control rods angled back. | |
 |
8.10m | 11.90/ -m |
30.00m² | 80 Le Rhône |
2 bay biplane based on reengined Nie.14, sometimes has anti-rollover wheels. | |
 |
7.15m | 8.10/ 6.75m |
18.00m² | 80 Le Rhône |
Based on Nie.10, has vertical interplane struts and sometimes has larger horizontal tail and pivotted tailskid. Aileron control rods angled rearward. | |
| Colour Notes:(all colours approximate) | |
| Aluminium: Aircraft were doped overall with an aluminium pigmented dope that was initially shiny but dulled with age to grey. Early Nieuport 17's were brushed and blotchiness is visible in photographs. A switch was made to spray guns midway through the 17's service and thereafter the finish is very even. Types in use prior to the 17 doped in aluminium were extremely rare as most had been retired. |
| Early Camouflage Scheme: Undersides were clear doped linen (CDL) or light blue with a thin overlap around flying surfaces, with top color extended underneath or bottom color to the top. Most examples seem to have had a consistent pattern. |
| Clear Doped Linen (CDL) was undyed linen coated with clear protective dope or varnish which slightly darkened the color. The color varied with the quality of the fabric and whether it had been bleached or not. Nieuports rarely had translucent linen. Later types using CDL were generally trainers. Finnish Nieuport 17's were not CDL - they were painted in a tan colour. |
| Russian aircraft used a poorer grade of linen with substantial amounts of black material giving it a greyish hue. |
| Kharki: Italian Nieuport 10's and 11's were doped two different shades, the standard CDL and a colour very similar to the Kharki used in the contemporary Italian uniforms. |
| PC10: Royal Flying Corps color used as a preservative and camouflage dope on the uppersurfaces of aircraft. The exact shade varied over the course of the war, but started as more of a green and gradually became browner as the war progressed. Some machines may also have been doped in the related PC12, which was a red brown. |
| Standard Pattern 5 Color Camouflage: Same colors as applied to other French 1918 types, and applied in consistant patterns on most examples of a given design. The Nieuport 28 had its own pattern as did the V strutters. Colours were black, dark green, olive green, dark brown and ecru (the color obtained from staining white fabric with tea). |
| OD Green: Dark green precoloured fabric used mostly in the early postwar period. It was intended for all new aircraft produced in France, Great Britian and US; however the end of the war ended production plans but it was used by both the US and France after the war. |
| Dimensions |
| Despite many published sources showing the N.12 as being 7.30m long this is incorrect. These are based on the dimensions provided with the Beardmore rigging drawing, which when measured is the length over the ground, measured tail down, while the 7.15m is the correct length as measured from the propellor boss to the rear of the rudder, parallel to the top longeron (the normal method of measuring length as used elsewhere). This is not uncommon and contemporary measurements for length can be from propellor, or cowl or firewall to either rudder post or rudder trailling edge. This makes the fuslage of the N.10 and N.12 the same - which clears up the confusion surrounding the Old Rhinebeck N.83.
Considerable variation existed between individual aircraft, especially from different contractors. Reliable dimensions for the Nieuport 10 span vary from 7.9 to 8.1m, with Nieuport-Macchi drawings showing 8.030m. In addition many published dimensions were estimates or guesses based on minimal information, or were rounded after being converted between imperial and metric. |
| Engines |
| Engines listed were standard, but often different engines were fitted, particularly on scouts being used as trainers, and unit hacks. The 80hp Le Rhône was a common alternative on French, British and American aircraft and the 100hp Gnome was common on Russian aircraft. |
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