Nieuport Nighthawk

Biplane Fighter Aircraft

United Kingdom | 1923

"The Nighthawk was plagued early on with an overheating engine, though the design showed enough promise as a whole to set a speed record during its time aloft."

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 05/15/2018 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

The Nieuport Nighthawk began as a design showing great promise. Development began in 1918, the final year of World War 1, and was the product of the Nieuport & General Aircraft firm - a British-based company started during the war to produce French-made Nieuport fighters as needed. This experience no doubt led to some self-empowering as the firm began design work on their own products under the direction of Henry Folland that would eventually give birth to the Nieuport Nighthawk, a fighter of great performance and capability but marred by and unstable and relatively new engine.

To understand the history of the Nighthawk itself, one must revisit the war years. A requirement was put forth by the British Air Ministry for a fighter powered by the new ABC Dragonfly engine, a radial type designed to output some 340 horsepower and was of relatively light weight. This new type of fighter would eventually replace the aging Sopwith Snipe types in service. Nieuport & General went to work under Folland and produced the Nighthawk but by this time the war was long over and the Dragonfly powerplant was beginning to show some ugly results. The engine had a propensity to overheat and proved to be quite the gas-guzzler. Additionally, the engine was designed to a fault to where it vibrated heavily in the airframe. Despite this, it was a promising engine married to a promising airframe. As such, the Nighthawk still impressed when the powerplant allowed it to do so.

Despite the progress there were simply too many negatives attached to the engine and the entire powerplant development was cancelled. This came too late for the Nighthawk design, of which some 70 had already been completed despite the problems. By 1920, Nieuport & General itself had gone away and the design was eventually purchased under the Gloster label, to which the aircraft became the Gloster Mars. From there, a variety of Nighthawk-based designs began to appear, some as sport racing aircraft with more powerful engines and subtle design changes whilst others were produced for military service in the British and Japanese branches.

During its lifetime, the Nighthawk and its derivatives were subject to engine changes as seen fit, some sporting Bentleys and Siddeley brands while others were powered by Bristol brand engines. Armament consisted of a World War 1 type arrangement of twin 7.7mm Vickers machine guns mounted in front of the pilot and firing through a synchronized two-blade propeller. Overall design was also consisted with World War 1 types in that the Nighthawk featured a standard biplane design layout.

Greece became just the third operator of the Nighthawk when it acquired some 25 Nighthawks from the British RAF.

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Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Nieuport Nighthawk Biplane Fighter Aircraft.

1 x ABC Dragonfly I 9-cylinder radial engine developing 340hp.
Propulsion

150 mph
241 kph | 130 kts
Max Speed

24,898 ft
7,589 m | 5 miles
Service Ceiling

310 miles
499 km | 269 nm
Operational Range

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Nieuport Nighthawk Biplane Fighter Aircraft.

1
(MANNED)
Crew

18.0 ft
5.49 m
O/A Length

28.0 ft
(8.53 m)
O/A Width

9.0 ft
(2.74 m)
O/A Height

1,504 lb
(682 kg)
Empty Weight

2,529 lb
(1,147 kg)
MTOW

Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of the Nieuport Nighthawk Biplane Fighter Aircraft .

2 x 7.7mm Vickers machine guns

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Nieuport Nighthawk family line.

Nighthawk - Production Model Designation; fitted with ABC Dragonfly engine.

Gloster Bamel (Mars 1) - single production racing variant based on the Nighthawk; fitted with Napier Lion engine of 450 horsepower.

Gloster 1 - Improved Gloster Bamel (Mars 1) model with smaller wing area and improved engine output.

Gloster Sparrowhawk (Mars II, III, IV) - Japanese naval fighter designation.

Gloster Nighthawk (Mars VI) - Based on Nighthawk model but fitted with either Jaguar OR Jupiter type engines.

Nieuport Nightjar (Mars X) - British naval fighter designation.

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Nieuport Nighthawk. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 70 Units
Contractor(s): Nieuport & General Aircraft Company Ltd - UK

[ the United Kingdom, Japan and Greece. ]

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Going Further...
The Nieuport Nighthawk Biplane Fighter Aircraft appears in the following collections:

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