The Nieuport-Delage NiD 42 was a fighter aircraft built in France in the early 1920s, the first in a family of designs that would form the backbone of the French fighter force over the next decade.[1][2]
As first built, the NiD 42 was a highly streamlined parasol-wingmonoplane with a monocoquefuselage and an open cockpit of which a single prototype was built. Soon afterwards, Nieuport-Delage built two examples of a modified version for the 1924 Coupe Beaumont as the NiD 42S,[3][4] on which the main wings were mounted directly to the sides of the upper fuselage at shoulder position with a short subsidiary wing fitted around the undercarriage axle. To further streamline the design, the surface radiators were installed on the upper surface of the wing.[5]
One of these aircraft was flown by Joseph Sadi-Lecointe in the race of 22 June and was the only one out of the five entrants to actually finish the course.[3][6][7] Indeed, having finished the prescribed six laps of the 50 km (31 mi) course, Sadi-Lecointe flew another four laps to break the world speed record over a 500-km closed-course.[7] His average speed in winning the Coupe Beaumont was 311 km/h (193 mph; 168 kn) and over the 500 km (310 mi) was 306 km/h (190 mph; 165 kn), beating the previous record for the latter by 36 km/h (22 mph; 19 kn).[7] On 15 February the following year, Sadi Lecointe took a NiD 42S up to a speed of 375 km/h (233 mph; 202 kn)[6] and went on to win the 1925 Coupe Beaumont with a NiD 42S on 18 October[6] with an average speed of 313 km/h (194 mph; 169 kn).[8]
While the NiD 42S was achieving these distinctions, development continued on the fighter version. Nieuport-Delage designed two further such variants in 1924; a single-seater designated NiD 42 C.1 and a similar machine with a second cockpit for a tail gunner with a machine gun in a ring mount, designated the NiD 42 C.2.[2] One of the latter was exhibited at that year's Salon de l'Aéronautique, along with a NiD 42 C.1 nose section to illustrate an alternative engine mount.[9] These differed from the original NiD 42 fighter in having a second, small wing added to the lower fuselage, turning the parasol monoplane into a sesquiplane, a design feature adopted from the NiD 37[10] which would be a key identifying feature through most of the versions developed from the 42.
Only two examples of the two-seater were built,[1] but Nieuport-Delage entered the single-seater in the 1925 concours des monoplaces, a competition by the Army's Technical Service to find a replacement for the NiD 29.[10] The NiD 42 was selected from a field of eleven competitors, and an order for 50 aircraft was placed,[10] of which 25 were eventually delivered.[2] Although impressive at the time it was designed, technology had already surpassed the NiD 42 when it entered service in 1928, particularly with regard to its wooden structure,[10] and most of the development work associated with the design was made in an effort to cure it of a tendency to enter a flat spin. Nevertheless, it provided the foundation for further development as the NiD 52 and NiD 62.[11]
Nieuport Delage NiD 44 C.1 photo from L'Aéronautique January,1926single-seat sesquiplane fighter with 370 kW (500 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Hb (27 built, mostly for French AF, includes two for the Turkish Air Force
prototype sesquiplane fighter, powered by a 340 kW (450 hp) Lorraine 12Ew W-12 engine, to test alternate engine (one built)
NiD 46 C.1
Nieuport Delage NiD 46 C.1 photo from L'Aéronautique January,1926prototype sesquiplane fighter with 370 kW (500 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Gb to test alternate engine (one built)
Parmentier, Bruno. "Nieuport-Delage NiD-42."Aviafrance - Un siècle d'aviation française, 27 August 2000.
Taylor, John W. R. and Jean Alexander. Combat Aircraft of the World. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. ISBN0-71810-564-8.
Taylor, Michael J. H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989. ISBN0-517-69186-8.
Wauthy, Jean-Luc & de Neve, Florian (June 1995). "Les aéronefs de la Force Aérienne Belge, deuxième partie 1919–1935" [Aircraft of the Belgian Air Force]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (305): 28–33. ISSN0757-4169.
