The slightly less well known

[Angry Turnip]

Loire 46

The Loire 46 was a French single-seater fighter aircraft of the mid-1930s.

The Loire 46 was a development of the Loire 43 and 45.It retained their gull mono-wing configuration, open cockpit, and fixed landing gear.The first of five prototype Loire 46s flew in September 1934.It had excellent handling characteristics and 60 production aircraft were ordered by the Armée de l'Air.
They were powered by a Gnome-Rhône 14Kfs 14-cylinder, air-cooled radial piston engine of 930 hp.Armament was four fixed 7.5 mm (0.295 inch) MAC 1934 machine guns mounted in the wings.

The first production aircraft arrived at fighter Escadrilles in August 1936.A little later In September 1936, the five prototype Loire 46s were sent to the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War.
By the beginning of World War II, the Loire 46 was obsolete and most of these fighters had been relegated to Armée de l'Air training schools,where they were used as advanced trainers. However, one fighter Escadrille was still equipped with the Loire 46 during the early weeks of the war.They were outclassed against modern German fighters

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[Angry Turnip]

Loire 70

The Loire 70 was a 1930s French long-range maritime reconnaissance flying boat.

It was designed to meet a 1932 French Navy requirement,the prototype first flew on 28 December 1933.It was an all-metal monoplane,with a braced high wing, and three radial engines mounted above the wing,two as tractors and one as a pusher.Armament was six 7.5mm (0.295 in) Darne machine guns and four 150kg bombs could be carried.
The original engines, three 500 hp Gnome et Rhône 9Kbr radials,were not powerful enough and were replaced with 740 hp Gnome-Rhône 9Kfr radials.These gave the aircraft a cruising speed of 105mph and a max of 145mph.

The seven production aircraft and prototype were delivered to the French Navy, serving with Escadrille E7 in Tunisia.In the early days of World War II, the aircraft carried out patrols in the Mediterranean area. An Italian raid on their base on 12 June 1940,destroyed 3 of the 4 surviving aircraft the fate of the last aircraft is unknown.

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[Angry Turnip]

Loire 210

The Loire 210 was a French single-seat catapult-launched fighter seaplane designed for the French Navy.The prototype first flew at Saint Nazaire on 21 March 1935.
The fuselage came from the earlier Loire 46 fitted with a new low-wing which was foldable for shipboard stowage.It had a large central float and two underwing auxiliary floats and was powered by a single nose-mounted Hispano-Suiza 9Vbs radial engine of 720hp.Cruising speed was 125mph, with a max speed of 185mph,it had a range of around 460 miles.

The prototype was fitted with two wing mounted machine guns, and was evaluated by the French Navy against a number of other types,with the 210 achieving a production order for 20 aircraft in March 1937.Production aircraft were fitted with four wing-mounted Darne machine guns.
The aircraft entered service in August 1939,but within three months five aircraft had been lost due to structural failure of the wing,so the remaining aircraft were grounded and withdrawn from use.

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[Angry Turnip]

Loire-Nieuport 161

The Loire-Nieuport 161 was a single seat,single engine,all metal,low wing monoplane fighter built in France in the mid 1930`s. Loire and Nieuport had merged in 1934,but retained separate offices.
Later in 1936 further mergers happened when they were nationalised and became part of  SNCAO.

The 161 was Loire-Nieuport`s first products and was in response to a requirement for a new advanced monoplane fighter.It was powered by an upright V-12 Supercharged Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs of 860hp giving a top speed of just under 300mph.It had a cantilever wing and a wide track retractable undercarriage,it first flew in early October 1935,although it did not have it`s intended engine as they were not ready. Instead it flew with a 600hp Hispano-Suiza engine driving a two bladed prop.

In 1936 it flew with the improved engine and featured a 3 blade variable pitch prop.It featured a 200mm cannon that fired through the spinner and was mounted between the engine cylinder banks, it also had two machine guns of 7.5mm calibre mounted in the wings.
Three prototypes were built, the first was lost in a crash in Sept 1936, which had a significant delay on the test programme. The second prototype was lost in April 1938,by which time development was halted, as the contract had been awarded to another type, the Morane Saulnier MS405. The fourth LN161 was left uncompleted.

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[Angry Turnip]

Loire-Nieuport LN-40 Series

The Loire-Nieuport LN-40 was a series of French Naval dive-bombers produced in the late 1930`s.
In mid 1937 an order was placed for a prototype,followed up by orders for seven production aircraft for the carrier Bearn, and a further three for evaluation by the Air Force.The land version would be named LN-41 plans were to order over 180 aircraft for several squadrons.
The prototype made it`s first flight on the 6th July 1938,with another in Jan 1939 and a third later in May 1939.Flight tests found the dive brakes were almost useless, they were removed and the extended landing gear doors could be used as airbrakes.

The aircraft was much too slow for the air forces requirements, they requested a faster version which would become the LN.42 which had a more powerful 860hp against 690hp engine.

In July 1939 an order was placed for 36 LN401`s for the Navy and 36 de-navalised LN411`s for the Army. Deliveries began in September 1939.The aircraft were completely outclassed by German aircraft during The Battle Of France, and losses were heavy.In total some 68 aircraft were completed.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Borel monoplane

The Morane-Borel monoplane (sometimes referred to as Morane-Saulnier Type A was an early French single-engine, single-seat aircraft.
The Monoplane was a mid-wing tractor configuration monoplane powered by a 50 hp Gnome Omega seven-cylinder rotary engine driving a two-bladed propeller. Lateral control was effected by wing warping and the empennage consisted of a fixed horizontal stabiliser with tip-mounted full-chord elevators at either end and an aerodynamically balanced rudder, with no fixed vertical surface. In later examples the horizontal surfaces were modified.

The Monoplane achieved fame when Jules Védrines flew one to victory in the 1911 Paris-to-Madrid air race, the only competitor to finish the four-day course. Later in the year he came second in the Circuit of Britain, flying an aircraft powered by a 70 hp Gnome.
As of 2007, a single example remains extant, undergoing conservation work at the Canada Aviation Museum

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier N

The Morane-Saulnier N, also known as the Morane-Saulnier Type N, was a French monoplane fighter aircraft of the First World War.
The Type N was a streamlined aircraft, but it was not easy to fly due to a combination of stiff lateral control caused by using wing warping instead of ailerons, sensitive pitch and yaw controls caused by using an all flying tail, and very high landing speed for the period. The Type N mounted a single unsynchronized forward-firing 7.9 mm Hotchkiss machine gun which used the deflector wedges first used on the Morane-Saulnier Type L, in order to fire through the propeller arc. The later I and V types used a .303-in Vickers machine gun.

It entered service in April 1915 with the Aéronautique Militaire designated as the MoS-5 C1. It also equipped four squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps, in which it was nicknamed the Bullet.
In total 49 aircraft were built but it was quickly rendered obsolete.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier T

The Morane-Saulnier T (or Morane-Saulnier MoS.25 A.3) was a French biplane reconnaissance aircraft.

It was a large, five-bay biplane of conventional configuration, with unstaggered wings of equal span. The tapered rear fuselage and large triangular vertical stabilizer were reminiscent of those used on Morane-Saulnier's smaller designs.The engines were mounted in streamlined nacelles supported by struts suspended between the wings and the propellers on the Type T were sometimes fitted with large spinners.The landing gear consisted of two main units, each of which had two wheels joined by a long axle, plus a tailskid and a nosewheel.Three open cockpits in tandem were provided, with one gunner in the nose, and another behind the wing, while the pilot was under the top wing.

The aircraft were introduced into service in August 1917,ninety aircraft were built,but almost all were retired by early 1918.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier AI

The Morane-Saulnier AI (also known as the Type AI) was a French parasol-wing fighter aircraft produced during World War I.
The AI was development of the Morane-Saulnier Type N concept, and was intended to replace the Nieuport 17 and SPAD VII in French service, in competition with the SPAD XIII.
Its Gnome Monosoupape 9N 160 CV rotary engine was mounted in a circular open-front cowling. The strut braced parasol wing was slightly swept back. The spars and ribs of the circular section fuselage were wood, wire-braced and covered in fabric.Production aircraft were given service designations based on whether they had 1 gun (designated MoS 27) or 2 guns (designated MoS 29).

By mid-May 1918, most of the aircraft were replaced by the SPAD XIII.After structural problems had been resolved, the aircraft were then relegated to use as advanced trainers, with new purpose built examples being designated MoS 30.Many were used post-war after having been surplussed off, as aerobatic aircraft,Fifty-one MoS 30s were purchased by the American Expeditionary Force as pursuit trainers.

Three surviving AIs are flown from La Ferté-Alais.The Fantasy of Flight collection in Florida has an AI that was sold to the United States Army Air Service in 1918 for testing at McCook Field in Ohio until being sold off for private use. It later joined the Tallmantz Collection which was then acquired by Fantasy of Flight in 1985 and restored in the late 1980s.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier BB

The Morane-Saulnier BB was a military observation aircraft produced in France during World War I for use by Britain's Royal Flying Corps.
It was a conventional single-bay biplane design with pilot and observer in tandem, open cockpits. The original order called for 150 aircraft powered by 110-hp Le Rhône 9J rotary engines, but shortages meant that most of the 94 aircraft eventually built were delivered with 80 hp Le Rhône 9C rotaries.A production licence was sold to the Spanish company (CECA), which built twelve fitted with Hispano-Suiza engines in 1916.

It equipped a number of RFC and RNAS squadrons both in its original observation role and, equipped with a forward-firing Lewis gun mounted on the top wing, as a fighter.
In total 107 aircraft were built.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier MS.130 Series

The Morane-Saulnier MS.129 and its derivatives in the MS.130 series were a family of military trainer aircraft produced in France in the 1920s.
They were conventional, parasol-wing monoplanes with open cockpits in tandem and fixed tailskid undercarriage. The initial version, the MS.129, was produced in small numbers for the Romanian Air Force and civil users, but the major production version was the MS.130, which equipped the French Navy and a number of foreign air arms,including China,Brazil,Belgium and Portugal and others.

The second MS.130 prototype won the 1929 Coupe Michelin, flown by Michel Detroyat with an average speed of 120 mph.
The MS.130 was further developed as the MS.230, and at least two MS.130s were later rebuilt to this new standard.Around 150 were built.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier M.S.225

The Morane-Saulnier M.S.225 was a fighter aircraft of the 1930s.It was produced in limited quantities to be used as a transitional aircraft between the last of the biplanes and the first monoplane fighters.
It was a parasol monoplane, with a wide fixed landing gear, and powered by a 500hp Gnome-Rhône 9Krsd radial engine. Having a circular fuselage the M.S.225 was much more robust than its immediate predecessor, the M.S.224.

The Morane-Saulnier M.S.225 was first shown in the form of a model at the Paris Air Show of 1932. After successful flight tests of the prototype, series production started at immediately.
Classified in the category C.1 (single-seat fighter), 75 aircraft were produced. A total of 53 aircraft were delivered to the Air Force in November 1933.The Aéronavale received the first of the 16 aircraft it had ordered in February 1934. Three were also sold to China.At the outbreak of World War II, only 20 M.S.225s were still in flying condition, the majority of them being scrapped in mid-1939.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier MS.350

The Morane-Saulnier MS.350 was a French aerobatic trainer first flown in Feb 1936.Just a single example was built.

It was a two bay biplane with equal span wings. In plan these were straight tapered, with sweep only on the leading edge, and with elliptical tips. The trainer was powered by a neatly cowled, 240 hp Renault 6Pei 6-cylinder inverted air-cooled inline engine,driving a two bladed propThis gave it a max speed of 158 mph,with a cruise of around 140mph.
It`s outstanding aerobatic displays across pre-war Europe made the MS.350 well known. It survived the war and was registered as F-BDYL in 1954 in the name of Jean Cliquet, Morane-Saulnier's chief test pilot, and based at Ossun. From 1956 it was owned by Morane-Saulnier and flew from their base at Villacoubly until it was wrecked in Italy on 8 December 1964.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier Vanneau

The Morane-Saulnier Vanneau (en: plover) is a two-seat basic trainer from the 1940`s.
It was designed in Vichy France as the MS.470 prototype,and first flew on 22 December 1944, successful testing lead to an order from the French Air Force of a revised version the MS.472. The Vanneau was a low-wing monoplane with a pilot and student in tandem under a long glazed canopy. It had a retractable tailwheel landing gear and the prototype was powered by a 690 hp Hispano-Suiza 12X inline engine.

The production version MS.472 was powered by a 570 hp Gnome-Rhône 14M-05 14-cylinder radial engine and first flew on 12 December 1945.Deliveries to the French Air Force starting in December 1946. From December 1947 the French Navy received 70 of the MS.474 variant modified for carrier operations.
Just over 500 aircraft were completed by the time production ended and the Vanneau remained in service with the French Air Force and Navy into the late 1960s.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier MS.570 Series

The Morane-Saulnier MS.570 was a civil utility aircraft produced in small numbers in France in the mid 1940s. It was a development of the MS.560 aerobatic aircraft with a redesigned fuselage that added a second seat,side-by-side with the pilot's and a more powerful Renault 4Pei engine of 140 hp.

It`s first flight was 19th December 1945 and the aircraft had good response,it`s engine was powerful enough to near 160mph.
Like its predecessor, the MS.570 was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with retractable tricycle undercarriage. It was an all metal aircraft,the fuselage having a semi-monocoque structure.
The cockpit was enclosed by an expansive bubble canopy that slid rearwards to provide access,and another feature was the wings could be folded for storage.Only 10 aircraft were completed.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier MS.603

The Morane-Saulnier MS.603 was a French-built two-seat light aircraft of the late 1940s.
It was one of three aircraft constructed in the MS.600 series to compete in an officially-sponsored 1947 contest for a light two-seat side-by-side club aircraft to be powered by a 75 hp engine.
The first MS.600, powered by a 75 hp Mathis G-4F piston engine, was a fixed gear, low-winged monoplane of mixed construction, with a single fin and the tailplane set just above the fuselage with a perspex canopy over a side-by-side cockpit for two people. All three aircraft, MS.600, MS.602 and MS.603, were ready for flight in 1947 with the MS.600 flying on 4 June 1947.

Another development, the MS.602, powered by a 75 hp Minie 4DA piston engine, was similar in most respects to the MS.600 and flew on 24 June 1947.
A more powerful derivative emerged as the MS.603, powered by a 100 hp Hirth HM 504A-2 engine and fitted with a fixed tricycle undercarriage.
The tailplane was also changed to a higher set position on the fin which was supported by struts.

Registered as F-WCZU in the experimental series, and re-registered F-PHQY in the amateur-operated series, the MS.602 was owned by Messieurs Gambi and Chanson and based at Saint-Cyr-l'École airfield, west of Paris.By 1983, the aircraft had been withdrawn from service and later scrapped.

The sole MS.603, construction No. 1, was initially registered F-WCZT and later re-registered F-PHJC. It was flown for many years by the Aero Club de Courbevoie. By 1963 it was operated by M. Jean Forster, based at Guyancourt airfield,but was withdrawn from use by 2006 when it was stored at the Musee de l'Aviation du Mas Palegry - near Perpignan.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier MS-700 Pétrel

The Morane-Saulnier MS-700 Pétrel (English: Petrel) was a French four-seat cabin-monoplane from the late 1940`s.

It was a twin-engine, low-wing, cabin-monoplane with a retractable tricycle landing gear and powered by two 160 hp Potez 4D-33 four-cylinder, inverted inline piston engines.
The prototype, with French test registration F-WFDC, first flew on 8th January 1949.The aircraft was intended as a light liaison aircraft and the second prototype made a demonstration tour of Africa at the end of 1950.In 1952 the second prototype was re-engined with Mathis G8-20 engines and re-designated MS-701.

On 3rd January 1951 a third prototype first flew, it was a MS-703 with a longer fuselage for six-seats and two 240 hp Salmson engines. It was used by the company for a number of years and the first prototype was due to be modified in the late 1950s to the same standards as the MS-703 but with 220 hp  Potez engines.
It was not converted and instead was withdrawn from use.Only the three prototypes were built and the type did not enter production.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier MS.755 Fleuret

The MS.755 Fleuret was a prototype French two-seat jet trainer from the early 1950`s. It was a side-by-side low mid-wing monoplane with a T-tail and powered by two 800 lbf  Turbomeca Marboré II turbojets.The prototype with French test registration F-ZWRS first flew on 29 January 1953.
The aircraft was not ordered,the Air Force decided on the Fouga CM.170 Magister instead and only one Fleuret was built.In March 1954, the sole prototype MS.755 was disassembled, crated and shipped to Begumpet Air Force Station, India, for tropical weather and trainer-suitability trials with the Indian Air Force.

Morane-Saulnier's Chief Test Pilot, Monsieur Jean Cliquet, and a team of 4 or 5 technicians accompanied the aircraft.The assigned IAF senior pilots were impressed with the MS.755 as a trainer, and ran a series of flight instruction tests where low time students with only 10 hours total flying experience transitioned to the jet and soloed with no problems.
The IAF tests of the MS.755 ended in June 1954 and the aircraft was then crated and shipped back to France,again without any orders for the aircraft.

The Fleuret II which was an enlarged four-seat development, was designed and produced as the MS.760 Paris,which did go into production,with over 210 being built.

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[Angry Turnip]

Morane-Saulnier Epervier

The MS.1500 Epervier (Sparrowhawk) was a 1950s French two-seat ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft.

It was designed to meet a requirement for a counter-insurgency aircraft for use by the French Air Force in Algeria.The Epervier was a tandem two-seat low-wing cantilever monoplane.
The prototype first flew on the 12 May 1958 powered by a 400 hp Turbomeca Marcadau turboprop.A second prototype was fitted with a 700 hp Turbomeca Bastan turboprop engine, which gave a max speed of just under 200mph.
Just the two prototypes were completed,the aircraft failed to attract any orders and it did not go into production.

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[Angry Turnip]

Nieuport VI

The Nieuport VI was a sport monoplane produced in France in the 1910s.
Like its predecessors, the Nieuport VI was a wire-braced, mid-wing monoplane of conventional design, powered by a single engine in the nose driving a tractor propeller. It differed, however, in being a three-seater rather than a single seater and it used steel for part of its internal structure where earlier designs had used only timber.

It was produced initially as a seaplane and designated VI.G, with twin pontoons as undercarriage, and a teardrop-shaped float under the tail. The pontoons were fitted with small planes at either side of their nose ends to protect the propeller, and reduce the tendency for the nose ends of the floats to submerge while taxiing.A crank was provided inside the cockpit that wound a spring that could be used to turn the engine over.The Type VI also featured a joystick for lateral control in place of the Blériot-style "cloche" controls used on earlier Nieuport designs.
A landplane version for military use was designated the Nieuport VI.M. Military Type VIs were built under licence in Italy by Nieuport-Macchi in Italy, and in Russia.

It`s first flight was August 1912,the aircraft was used in several air races,sporting events and various record attempts.
At the outbreak of World War I, a number of Type VI.M landplanes remained in French, Italian, and Russian service,as did six Type VI.G seaplanes with the French Navy.

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[Angry Turnip]

Nieuport 11

The Nieuport 11 (or Nieuport XI C.1 ), nicknamed the Bébé, was a French World War I single seat sesquiplane fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage.
The Nieuport 11 was a smaller, simplified version of the Nieuport 10, designed specifically as a single-seat fighter. Like the "10" the "11" was a sesquiplane, a biplane with a full-sized top wing with two spars, and a lower wing of much narrower chord and a single spar.The sesquiplane layout reduced drag and improved the rate of climb, as well as offering a better view from the cockpit  while being substantially stronger than contemporary monoplanes.A drawback was, the narrow lower wing was sometimes subject to aeroelastic flutter at high air speeds, a problem that affected the later "vee-strut" Nieuport fighters.

The Nieuport 11 reached the French front in January 1916, and 90 were in service within the month.It outclassed the Fokker Eindecker in every respect, including speed, climb rate and manoeuvrability. It featured ailerons for lateral control rather than the Fokker's wing warping, giving lighter, quicker roll response, and its elevator was attached to a conventional tail plane which provided better pitch control as opposed to the all-moving, balanced "Morane type" elevators of the Fokker.
During the course of the Battle of Verdun in February 1916, the combination of the Nieuport 11s technical advantages and its concentration in dedicated fighter units allowed the French to establish air superiority, forcing radical changes in German tactics.

Some Nieuport 11s and 16s were fitted to fire Le Prieur rockets from the struts for attacks on observation balloons and airships.
By March 1916 the Bébé was being replaced by both the Nieuport 16 and the much improved Nieuport 17, although Italian-built examples remained in first line service longer, as did Russian examples.
Thereafter the Nieuport 11s continued to be used as trainers.

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[Angry Turnip]

Nieuport 14

The Nieuport 14 (or Nieuport XIV A.2) was a military reconnaissance sesquiplane produced in France during the First World War.
It was to have been a two-seat reconnaissance machine capable of making a flight of 110 miles and back while carrying a useful bomb load. Nieuport's design started with the Nieuport 12 reconnaissance aircraft, but had its fuselage stretched to balance out the single nose mounted Hispano-Suiza V-8 engine and its wingspan increased by the addition of an additional bay.Protracted development saw some refinement in the engine installation and the wing area increased from 28 m2 (300 sq ft) square meters to 30 m2 (320 sq ft) resulted in it entering service mid 1916.

Its failure as a combat aircraft meant a dedicated trainer variant was developed, the Nieuport 14 École with dual controls, nosewheels to guard against nose-over accidents, and an 80 hp Le Rhone 9C rotary engine in the place of the original V-8.When further refined, the trainer version was redesignated the Nieuport 82 E.2 and would be nicknamed Grosse Julie.

Deliveries to reconnaissance squadrons commenced in late 1916, replacing obsolete Voisin III and V types. However, changing priorities resulted in production being curtailed as the Hispano-Suiza engines were desperately needed for SPAD VII fighters, and several units that had planned on operating the Nieuport 14 became fighter units,operating the Nieuport 17.

With production halted remaining machines were relegated to training duties and as unit hacks.While the Nieuport 14 only saw service in France, the Nieuport 82 served more widely.
Aside from flight schools in France, Brazil operated 9 Nieuport 82s from 1919 to 1924, and Japan operated a small number, with at least one acquiring the civil registration J-TOXC.
The first Native American and African-American female aviator Bessie Coleman did some of her training in a Nieuport 82 in France.

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Nieuport 15

The Nieuport 15 (or Nieuport XV) was a French World War I bomber aircraft.

It was a development and scaled up Nieuport 14, the new bomber was built in the summer of 1916 and the first prototype was ready for testing in November of that year.
The Nieuport 15 was a two-bay sesquiplane with V-struts and a newly designed tailplane including a heart shaped elevators.It was powered by a 220 hp Renault 12F V-12 engine,with Hazet radiators mounted on each side of the fuselage.

During limited flight testing the controls and landing gear were found to be unsatisfactory and the French quickly abandoned the bomber.In December 1916 it was declared obsolete but the British showed some interest and had ordered 70 aircraft but after the tests proved disappointing, all orders were eventually cancelled with just four aircraft completed.

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Nieuport Madon

In October 1917 Nieuport began construction of a prototype monoplane fighter known as the Nieuport Madon, a strut braced monoplane.

The shoulder mounted wing was supported by sizeable lift struts attached to the landing gear, which featured an additional lifting area between the wheels. A section of wing root was cut away to improve downward visibility.The fuselage and wing were fabric covered.It was armed with two synchronized 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Vickers machine guns.
The first prototype made its first flight in early January 1918,powered by a 150 hp Gnome Monosoupape 9N rotary engine,which gave a max speed of around 140mph,and good general performance.

The second prototype first flew in late January 1918 with the slightly more powerful 180 hp Le Rhône 9R.This had a revised wing whose inboard trailing edges were cut away to an elongated fin. On 1 May 1918 the second prototype was rejected in favour of the Monosoupape powered model.The Madon did not enter service and just the two were built

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Nieuport-Delage NiD 580

The Nieuport-Delage NiD 580 R.2 was a contender for a French government contract for a long range, two seat reconnaissance aircraft, issued in 1928.
The specification called for an all-metal aircraft, fast and with a good climb rate and long range capability.It led to prototypes from eight manufacturers,one of the terms of the specification required the manufacturers to use a Hispano-Suiza 12Nb water-cooled V-12 engine of 650Hp.

The NiD 580 was a monoplane with a two-part parasol wing,it was supported on each side by a pair of parallel, duralumin struts from the lower fuselage to the wing spars and attached centrally, low over the fuselage.The engine was mounted in the nose, enclosed in a close fitting cowling which followed the profiles of the two cylinder banks.
The pilot's cockpit was near the trailing edge gave a forward view under the wing. The observer/gunner had a separate cockpit close behind the pilot with a rounded wing cut-out improved the upward field of view from both. Both cockpits had unusual, multiframed windscreens and the observer's at least could be folded.This position was also fitted with a flexible machine gun mounting.

The French government purchased two NiD 580s, as they did with the other prototypes.The date of it`s first flight is not known but both flew during the trials which lasted about a year. The winner was the ANF Les Mureaux 111,so the Nieuport-Delage did not go into production.

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