SPAD S.VII

The SPAD S.VII C.1 was the first of a family of single-seat biplane fighters built by SPAD during the First World War, and was renowned as a sturdy aircraft with good diving characteristics and a stable gun platform. Louis Béchereau designed it around the new Hispano-Suiza 8A V-8 engine, developing it from the SPAD V prototype, which first flew in April 1916 and dropped the observer's pulpit of the earlier S.A two-seater. An initial production contract for 268 machines was placed on 10 May 1916. Early defects slowed deliveries, but large numbers reached the front in 1917 and the type was flown by aces such as Georges Guynemer, Francesco Baracca and Alexander Pentland. It was built in France, Britain and Russia, and the total number produced remains uncertain, with sources giving between about 3,800 and 5,600 built in France alone.