Nieuport B.N.1

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Use British English|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox aircraft | name = B.N.1 | logo = | logo_size = | image = | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Fighter | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = United Kingdom | manufacturer = Nieuport & General Aircraft | design_group = | designer = Henry Folland | builder = | issuer = | status = abandoned prototype | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = February 1918 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }} The '''Nieuport B.N.1''' was a prototype British single-engined fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was a single-engined biplane intended to replace the Sopwith Camel, but only one was built, being destroyed in a crash. The Sopwith Snipe was built instead to replace the Camel.

==Development and design== In 1917, as a result of an official Inquiry (the Burbidge Report) into the activities of the Royal Aircraft Factory, design and construction of aircraft at Farnborough ceased, and the Factory's design teams were broken up.<ref name="Bruce v1 p68">Bruce 1965, p.168.</ref> This allowed the Nieuport & General Aircraft Co Ltd, which was formed at Cricklewood, London in 1916 to license produce French Nieuport aircraft,<ref>''Flight'' 16 November 1916, p.1016.</ref> to acquire the services of Henry Folland, previously responsible for the design of the S.E.5 fighter, as chief designer.<ref name="Bruce v1 p68">Bruce 1965, p.168.</ref> His first design for Nieuport & General was another fighter, intended to meet Air Board Specification A.1.A for a replacement for the Sopwith Camel, in competition with designs submitted by Sopwith (the Sopwith Snipe), Austin Motors (the Austin Osprey) and Boulton & Paul (the Bobolink).<ref name="Mason Fighter p130-1">Mason 1992, pp.130-131.</ref>

This aircraft, designated '''Nieuport B.N.1''' (for "British Nieuport"), was a single-engined, single seat tractor biplane of wooden construction. It had equal-span, unstaggered two bay wings, a slab-sided fuselage and was powered by a 230 hp (172 kW) Bentley BR2 rotary engine. A distinctive feature was a ventral fin, as used on the S.E.5 (which was to become a distinguishing mark of many of Folland's designs). Armament was the normal pair of synchronised Vickers machine guns together with a Lewis gun mounted on the upper wing, firing over the propeller.<ref name="Bruce British p317">Bruce 1957, p.317.</ref>

Three B.N.1s were ordered, the first one flying in February 1918. When it was evaluated, it demonstrated performance that was generally superior to the Snipe, with a much better ceiling. It was destroyed, however, on 10 March 1918 when its engine (only the sixth BR2 built) caught fire in the air. This caused the B.N.1 to be abandoned, with the Snipe being purchased to replace the Camel, and Folland concentrating on the design of the more advanced Nieuport Nighthawk.<ref name="Mason Fighter p131"/>

==Specifications == {{Aircraft specs |ref=''The British Fighter since 1912.''<ref name="Mason Fighter p131">Mason 1992, p.131.</ref> |prime units?=imp |crew=One |length ft=18|length in=6 |span ft=28|span in=0 |height ft=9|height in=0 |wing area sqft=260 |airfoil= |gross weight lb=2030 |fuel capacity={{cvt|36|impgal|USgal L}}<ref>Bruce 1957, p. 318.</ref>  |eng1 number=1|eng1 name=Bentley BR2|eng1 type=9-cylinder rotary engine |eng1 hp=230

|prop blade number=2 |prop name=wood fixed pitch propeller |prop dia ft=|prop dia in=  |max speed mph=127 |max speed note=at {{cvt|15000|ft}} |range miles= |endurance=3 hr |ceiling ft=26000 |ceiling note=(absolute ceiling) |time to altitude=16 min to {{cvt|15000|ft}}  |guns=2 x forward firing, synchronised {{cvt|.303|in|1}} Vickers machine guns and one {{cvt|.303|in|1}} Lewis gun above upper wing }}

==See also== {{aircontent  |related=*Nieuport Nighthawk |similar aircraft=*Sopwith Snipe *Boulton Paul Bobolink *Austin Osprey *Armstrong Whitworth Armadillo |lists= |see also=

}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

*Bruce, J.M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914-18''. London:Putnam, 1957. *Bruce, J.M. ''War Planes of the First World War: Volume One:Fighters''. London:Macdonald, 1965. *Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. Annapolis, USA:Naval Institute Press, 1992. {{ISBN|978-1557500823}}. *"[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1916/1916%20-%201024.html New Companies Registered]". ''Flight'', 16 November 1916. p. 1016.

==External links== {{Nieuport & General aircraft}}

Category:1910s British fighter aircraft B.N.1 Category:Rotary-engined aircraft Category:Biplanes Category:Aircraft first flown in 1918 Category:Single-engined piston aircraft