The Nieuport & General Aircraft Company Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer, established during the First World War to build French Nieuport aircraft under licence, which closed down in 1920.
History On 16 November 1916, Samuel Waring, the owner of the furniture manufacturer Waring & Gillow, established the Nieuport & General Aircraft Company at Cricklewood, London to build the French Nieuport 11 fighter under licence.Gunston 2005, p. 33.Flight 16 November 1916, p. 1016. It built 50 Nieuport 17bis fighters before production changed to the more capable Sopwith Camel,Bruce 1976, p. 152. building 400 Camels, with 100 Sopwith Snipes being delivered postwar.Bruce 1957, pp. 591–592.Robertson 1970, pp. 156–157.
In 1917, an official Inquiry (the Burbidge Report) into the activities of the Royal Aircraft Factory led to design and construction of aircraft at Farnborough being stopped, and the Factory's design teams being broken up. Nieuport & General took advantage of this situation to hire Henry Folland, the designer of the S.E.5 fighter, as chief designer.Bruce 1965, p. 168. Folland designed a number of aircraft, with the Nieuport Nighthawk fighter being ordered into production in August 1918,Mason 1992, p. 150. but the failure of the engine chosen to power it together with the end of the First World War, led to production being ended and the Nighthawk not entering service.
Nieuport & General was closed down in August 1920, together with the other aircraft companies owned by Waring, British Aerial Transport (BAT) and the Alliance Aeroplane Company.Bruce 1957, p. 321.Flight 19 August 1920, p. 907. Folland was hired by the Gloster Aircraft Company, continuing development of the Nighthawk.James 1971, pp. 7–9.
Aircraft Nieuport B.N.1 Nieuport Nighthawk Nieuport London
Notes
References 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. Bruce, J. M. "Those Classic Nieuports". Air Enthusiast Quarterly, Number Two, 1976. Bromley, UK:Fine Scroll. pp. 137–153. Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers. Stroud, UK:Sutton Publishing, 2nd Edition, 2005. . James, Derek N. Gloster Aircraft since 1917. London:Putnam, 1971. . Mason, Francis K. The British Fighter since 1912. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1992. . "New Companies Registered". Flight, 16 November 1916. p. 1016. "Our Designing Staffs and Their Future: A Word of Warning". Flight, 19 August 1920. p. 907. Robertson, Bruce. Sopwith—The Man and His Aircraft. Letchworth, UK:Air Review, 1970. .