Nieuport-Delage NiD 580

The Nieuport-Delage NiD 580 R.2 was a contender for a French government contract for a long range, two-seat reconnaissance aircraft, issued in 1928. The R.2 specification called for an all-metal aircraft that was fast, climbed rapidly and had a large radius of action. The NiD 580 was a monoplane with a two-part trapezoidal parasol wing built around a central box of two interbraced spars, and a fuselage built around four longerons with an equilateral triangular section, vertex down. A Hispano-Suiza 12Nb water-cooled upright V-12 engine of 480 kilowatts powered it. There were eight prototypes in the long range reconnaissance contest held at Villacoublay in 1931 and 1932, and the NiD 580 was not selected for production, although it was shown at the 18th Paris Aero Salon in November and December 1932. The date of its first flight is not known.