Nieuport 12

The Nieuport 12 was a French sesquiplane used as a reconnaissance aircraft, a fighter and a trainer by France, Russia, Great Britain and the United States during the First World War. It was developed from the Nieuport 10 by fitting a more powerful engine and a significantly enlarged upper wing, and the observer in the rear cockpit carried a Lewis gun, normally on an Etévé ring that British crews called the Nieuport ring. Engines offered included Clerget and Le Rhône rotaries. William Beardmore and Company built the type under licence for the Royal Flying Corps and progressively modified it, sometimes adding a Scarff ring and a synchronized Vickers gun for the pilot. Later production examples were built in large numbers as trainers, the 80 and 81 versions, and served widely until the late 1920s. A single ex-French example has been restored and is on display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.