WW1 Aircraft Modeling > Completed models

The Gordon Bennett Air Race 1911: Part 1 Nieuport IV

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lone modeller:
Evening All,

The Gordon Bennett Air Trophy was started in 1909 and was an international racing competition for land planes. The first country to win the race in three successive years would be the outright winner and keep the trophy. It had similar rules to the Schneider Trophy for float planes: the competition was to be held annually in the country of the previous winner. The country which won the competition for three successive years would become the outright winner and keep the trophy. The race consisted of competitors flying over a set distance and the times measured and compared to find the winner.

The 1910 competition was won by C. Graham-White so the 1911 competition was held in Britain. The site chosen was Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent as this was the home of the Royal Aero Club and the site of the Short Brothers aircraft factory. A light railway ran nearby so aircraft could be transported by rail and if necessary serviced and repaired easily on site. There were 6 entrants to the 1911 race from France, Britain and the USA.The US competitor and winner was C. Weyman who flew a Nieuport IV with a 100 hp Gnome Omega Omega two row rotary engine, with a speed of 78.1 mph (125.69 kph).





The Nieuport IV was designed as an air racer but was bought for military use by several countries before the outbreak of WW1 and was used by France and Russia in the early months of that conflict.





There is a kit of the Nieuport IV by Amodel but I chose to scratch build mine using plastic sheet, rod and strip with wood for the propellor. The tail number was drawn and printed by me and is based on a photograph taken at Eastchurch during the competition.







Thanks for looking.

Stephen.

KiwiZac:
Once again you present a lovely model of a type I'd never heard of. Excellent work Stephen!

RichieW:
One down, five to go. That's a lovely little racer Stephen, I'd never heard of the type or even the Gordon Bennett Air Race. I have learned a lot about aviation history as well as modelling from this thread already.

Richie

Tim Mixon:
Very inspiring Stephen. To think you scratch built the whole thing is amazing.  Nice history lesson as well. 

kensar:
A very nice result, Stephen.  This one was controlled by wing warping?
I wonder why monoplanes weren't developed to a greater extent than they were by the British and French during the war.  There are several pre-war monoplane examples known (I'm thinking mostly French - Bleriot and this Nieuport).

Looking forward to the next racer.

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