What's up with the Neuports?

[Charlie3]

Someone from my group bought a Neuport 28 the other day which I would guess is an improved version of the Neuport 17 but it we have discovered all of the Neuports use the same maneuver deck, and this one does "B" damage instead of "A" like the 17 in the game. The Neuport is the only plane I don't seem to have any info on in my library. Any guesses why there is no improvement even though there are different versions available?

[Oberst Hajj]

I've actually wondered this my self. It almost seems as if the armament is backwards in the game. As far as using the same maneuver deck, other then the 28 being faster, that's pretty accurate.

[Charlie3]

Ok I went to the web for info.
Evedently they tryed to up grade the Neuports and although the up grades increased the horsepower, and internal design, they made the plane heavier so performance apperantly did not improve enough to show a difference in game terms. The gun situation is the same. They up gunned but only used one bigger gun so because of the 2 gun A cards and 1 gun B card system in the game there is no real changes. The noteworthy changes for the Neuport 28 were that it had metal framework, and had a smaller production engine than was used for design work.

[Carlos Lopes]

Good morning to all,

This is what I have about Nieuport 28.

The Nieuport 28 might have drifted into obscurity, but it chanced to appear when no other fighter was readily available to pursuit squadrons of the A.E.F..

Two hundred and ninety-seven Nie.28 were purchased by USA and issued to 27th, 97,th, 95th and 147th Aero Squadron in France.

The first combat patrols did not take place until the end of April, due to delay in receiving their guns. Some aircrafts had 0.30 Marlin guns instead of Vickers weapons, a few are believed to have carried out "balloon-busting" duties using an 11mm Vickers guns in the upper position.

Although it was light, maneuverable and had a rapid acceleration, the Nie 28 had an unhappy tendency to shed its upper-wing fabric in any violent manoeuvre, but the most unfortunate feature was the thoroughly unreliable Gnome Monosoupape engine.

In July of 1918 the A.E.F. began to replace its Nie 28 with Spad XIII, relegating the Nie28 to training duties.

(MUNSON - World Aircraft - Fighters 1914-1919, Blanford Press, London, 1968)

Carlos Lopes
TAF

[Desaix]

Good timing hehe, I am currently doing a research on the Nieuports in order to propose some rules variant for each model...

Are you talking about the 23 in miniature (kibanov) with B deck in the WoW series or about a 28 from some another miniatures company ?

[Carlos Lopes]

I do not have any miniature of that plane, but if I have to use a Nie 28, I would use a B deck.

Carlos Lopes
TAF

[Pooh]

Guys,

This is likely redundant but here goes anyway.

There were 3 basic types of Nieuport scouts.
N11 was the 1st, it came out in time to help end the Fokker scourge. There is already a card for it in WoW. They all should have "B" guns

N17 came out late 1916 was a development of the N11. It was larger and heavier and faster with a more powerful engine. Until the arrival of the Spad VII it was more or less the standard French fighter. There are cards for this plane in WoW also. Except for special aircraft, such as those modified by aces, they should all have "B" guns.

Both the above aircraft had a unique wing and a half structure in which the lower wing was much smaller than the upper wing. Both types were noted for their manouverability and rate of climb but structural weakness of the wing design limited their maximum dive speed. Both the N11 & N17 were very successful aircraft.

The N28 was a different design with a more standard biplane wing arrangement. It came out in 1918 after the French had opted for the Spads. As noted above, it was saved from complete obscurity by delays in delivering spads to the Americans. It wasn't a bad plane. It was manouverable with desent speed and a good rate of climb. There were just better aircraft available. Some sources I've read say the shedding fabric issue was overblown with only 4 instances while the Americans were using them and that the problem was solved by the time the Yanks switched to spads. The N28 was designed to carry 2 machine guns so whould have "A" guns. There isn't a card for these planes yet in WoW but it will be different from the other 2.

Pooh