Nieuport and General Aircraft Co
Nieuport was a French aeroplane company famous for racers before WWI and fighter aircraft during WWI and between the wars.
British Nieuport and General Aircraft Co of Cricklewood was the UK manufacturing arm.
The Nieuport & General Aircraft Company Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer, established during the First World War to build French Nieuport aircraft under license
In November 1916, Samuel Waring, head of the furniture manufacturer Waring and Gillow, established the Nieuport & General Aircraft Company at Cricklewood, London to build the French Nieuport 11 fighter under license. It built 50 Nieuport 17bis fighters before production changed to the more capable Sopwith Camel, building 400 Camels, with 100 Sopwith Snipes being delivered postwar.
1916 The Burbidge Report into the activities of the Royal Aircraft Factory, and the subsequent decisions by the Air Board, led to the construction of aircraft at Farnborough being stopped, and the Factory's design teams being broken up.
1917 Nieuport & General took advantage of the situation at the Royal Aircraft Factory to hire Henry Folland, the designer of the S.E.5 fighter, as chief designer. Folland designed a number of aircraft, with the Nieuport Nighthawk fighter being ordered into production in August 1918, but the failure of the engine chosen to power it together with the end of the First World War, lead to production being ended and the Nighthawk not entering service.
Nieuport & General was closed down in August 1920, together with the other aircraft companies owned by Waring, British Aerial Transport Co and the Alliance Aeroplane Co. Folland was hired by the Gloster Aircraft Company, continuing development of the Nighthawk.
List of Models
- Nieuport 29 (1918)
- Nieuport 31 (1918)
- Nighthawk (1918)
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Wikipedia