Roden Aircraft 1/32 Nieuport 28c1 WWI French BiPlane Fighter Kit
After the entry of the United States of America into the WWI, the American Expeditionary Forces needed airplanes urgently for their own new air force units. The U.S.A. bought a variety of types of airplane at that time, which France made available. In this way the Nieuport 28 became the foundation of American air power in the skies of Europe. The Nieuport firm sold America 297 machines in total, which equipped the 27th, 94th, 95th and 103rd Aero Squadrons.
The Nieuport 28 gained its first victories in April of 1918, when Lieutenants Douglas Campbell and Alan Winslow brought down two German airplanes in the sky of the Western Front.
In this fashion began the history of the United States Army Air Force. The most successful American ace of WWI, Eddie Rickenbacker gained several victories piloting the Nieuport 28. "The well known pilot Quentin Roosevelt, son of the President of the USA Theodore Roosevelt, also flew this airplane."
American pilots spoke approvingly of the maneuverability of the fighter, however, its general performance fell more and more behind that of the enemy's newer types. The Nieuport displayed a dangerous design fault in operation the fabric of the upper wing could simply break away during intensive maneuvering, and as a result there was a series of terrible catastrophes. Little time was spent to remedy this defect, and improve the machine's construction, and operation of the type was reduced to a minimum; but exactly at that time America bought from France the more advanced SPAD XIII in great quantity, and consequently there was no particular need to return the Nieuport 28 to the Front in the summer of 1918, although some machines were still being used at the end of the summer.
With the end of WWI, the American Expeditionary Forces returned to the homeland. The airplanes brought back from Europe became the basis of the new American air arms. The Nieuport 28 was used as a trainer and also for shipboard operation. A few years later the type was officially acknowledged as out-of-date and retired from service. Some machines were used in various civilian 'flying circuses' and also for the needs of Hollywood. Switzerland, Argentina, Greece and Guatemala received some machines.
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