Nieuport IV

Nieuport IV
1912 Nieuport IVG displayed in the Flygvapenmuseum at Malmen near Linköping, Sweden.
Role	Sporting and military monoplane
National origin	France
First flight	1911
Introduction	1911
Status	preserved in museums
Primary users	Private pilots Air Forces
Variants	Nieuport VI

Claude Grahame White's Nieuport IV circa 1912

The Nieuport IV was a French-built sporting, training and reconnaissance monoplane of the early 1910s.

Design and development

Societe Anonyme des Etablissements Nieuport had been formed in 1909 by Edouard de Nieuport. The Nieuport IV was a development of the early Nieuport series of his monoplanes, which commenced with the single-seat Nieuport I. It was initially designed as a two-seat sporting monoplane, but quickly found ready customers with the air forces of several countries. It was initially powered by a 50 hp (37 kW) rotary engine, which was later replaced by a 70 hp (52 kW) powerplant.^[1]

Operational history

The first Nieuport IVs were built in 1911. The design was quickly adopted by several air arms, including the Swedish Air Force, which was presented by four individuals with a model IVG in 1912, becoming the initial equipment of that force.^[2] The IVG was one of the principal aircraft used by the Imperial Russian Air Service during its formative years.^{[citation needed]} Lt Pyotr Nesterov performed the first ever loop over Kiev in a model IV on 27 August 1913.^{[citation needed]}

Variants

IV 

basic civilian model

IVG 

basic military model

IVH 

float-equipped model

IVM 

observation variant with 100 h.p. Gnome

Survivors

The Swedish Air Force maintained their first model IV in airworthy condition until 1965.^[3] This aircraft is now preserved in the Flygvapenmuseum at Malmen near Linköping.^[4] The Museo del Aire at Cuatro Vientos near Madrid has a full scale replica of one of their model IVs.^[5]

Operators

Military

(source : Priswell)

 Argentina

 Greece

 Russian Empire

 Italy

 Japan

 Romania

 Thailand

 Spain

 Sweden

• Swedish Navy

 United Kingdom

Specifications (IVM)

Data from Aviafrance

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 1 passenger
• Length: 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in)
• Wingspan: 12.1 m (39 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 22.0 m² (237 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 483 kg (1,065 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Gnome rotary piston, 75 kW (100 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 120 km/h (75 mph; 65 kn)
• Time to altitude: 12 minutes 40 seconds to 500m

Notes

1. ^ Green, 1965, p.347
2. ^ Green, 1965, p.347
3. ^ Green, p.346
4. ^ Ogden, 2006, p.484
5. ^ Ogden, 2006, p.470

References

• Green, William (1965). The Aircraft of the World. Macdonald & Co (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN none. 
• Ogden, Bob (2006). Aviation Museums and Collections of Mainland Europe. Air-Britain (Historian) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-375-7. 

External links

• Drawings and narrative on the Nieuport monoplanes
• List of entitities operating the Nieuport IV