Sunday, July 3, 2011

France - 1918 SPAD S-XIV

Naval aviation was extremely important during the Great War. France had experimented with float planes built on existing airframes. The list includes the Morane-Saulnier H, Caudron G.III and the Hanriot HD-2. One of the more successful aircraft used by the French was the SPAD S.XIV.

The SPAD Float Plane

SPAD S-XIV 1918
SPAD S-XIV 1918

I had not found a line drawing for this aircraft so I worked off drawings for the S.XII and photographs taken from a distance. The paint scheme is a best guess,however it is possible they used one of the multi-colored camouflage schemes instead of the aluminum paint.

The SPAD S.XIV was a single-seat French biplane seaplane fighter aircraft built by Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD) and flown by the French Navy during World War I. The SPAD XIV was a development of the SPAD XII. It was powered by a 149 kW (200hp) Hispano-Suiza 8 Bc engine. The S.XIV was similarly armed with the 37 mm cannon developed by SAMC for which 12 shots were carried. The cannon fired through the propeller shaft, necessitating the use of a geared Hispano-Suiza aviation engine to mount the gun. The SPAD XIV also carried a single 0.303 inch (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun mounted on the starboard side of the nose. Forty were constructed and flew in the French Navy during 1918.

References

  1. SPAD S.XIV. (2010, March 14). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:24, August 25, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SPAD_S.XIV&oldid=349722825
  2. SPAD S-XIV aviafrance.com http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=144&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=1231
  3. Taylor, Michael J H. "Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation". pg. 835. Portland House, 1989. ISBN 0-517-69186-8

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