Nieuport 11

As a young lad I remember my brother building a small free flight Nieuport from plans in a modelling magazine- he never completed it before moving out of home.  It was designed around a Mills .75 diesel he had.  I got to and put it together, applying a multitude of different colours, paying no attention to any original paint scheme, with a bronze fuselage, green, orange, lime green & something else sunburst on the wings, topped off with a bright orange cowl.  I recall mounting up the mills and giving it a run, but I couldn't figure out how it was supposed to fly- I mean, there was nothing to control it .
That just didn't compute so I set about converting it to control line, very poorly I may add.  The engine bearers came out with the full intention of mounting up my Super Bee (my first Cox engine) I got in a heap of stuff from an old high school teacher I had.

That's as far as it went.  I lost track of the plans, my interests changed and the Nieuport went into storage.  I always thought it was a 17, but I remember being impressed by the open-bottom cowl my brother had made, so recent investigations reveal it as a Nieuport 11 "Babe".  I think I know where it currently resides in a box somewhere, so will have to dig it out.  Further investigations on the net came up with this.



Guess what?  This is the original article from Aeromodeller Magazine, 1972.  Plans included.

So, once I've completed my Cadet (painting in process) and the Ringmaster Bipe (just starting) and about 4 other kits I have waiting, plus an almost completed Aeroflite .15 size P-40 stunter that's been hanging in the shed for over 30 years, I might just drag out the little Nieuport and see if I can do something with it.  

Too little time!!!

Rod.