Nieuport 17bis

The Nieuport 17bis, called the Nieuport XVIIbis C.1 in contemporary sources, was a French single-seat sesquiplane fighter of the First World War that was also built under licence in the United Kingdom, in small numbers, for the Royal Naval Air Service. The designation had first been used by Nieuport for a Nieuport 11 retrofitted with the wings and side fairings of a Nieuport 17, but that type was not produced in numbers and the name was reused for the Clerget-powered fighter. The Royal Naval Air Service received 82 examples, 32 from Nieuport including one triplane and 50 from Nieuport and General Aircraft, but the British-built aircraft were delivered so slowly that the type was obsolete before most arrived, and only four are known to have been used operationally. Initial reports were impressive, yet the Clerget engines lost power quickly between overhauls and many pilots tried to obtain French-built engines instead.