J.Davilla, A.Soltan French Aircraft of the First World War (Flying Machines)

Nieuport 30

  The Nieuport firm produced an aircraft to meet the type B2 specification of 1917. This called for a day bomber with a crew of two and capable of carrying 300 kg of bombs. It was intended as a replacement for the Breguet 14 and was to have been powered by a single 600-hp Renault 12M. The bomber was to have utilized the same duralumin structure as the Breguet 14. The wings had a pronounced backward stagger with two-bays of struts on either side, and the upper wing was shorter than the lower. Three Lamblin radiators were fitted under the engine. The fuselage was constructed of wood and had a rectangular cross section. The aircraft was in competition with the Breguet 14 with a 300-hp Renault engine fitted with a Rateau turbo-compressor. The Breguet design was selected by the Aviation Militaire, but was built only in small numbers due to the Armistice. It is not known how far construction had progressed on the Nieuport 30 before the Armistice, but no photographs or drawings have been found that show it in the B2 configuration.
  With the end of the First World War, the Nieuport firm foresaw the need for aerial transports. The Nieuport 30 design was converted to an airliner by an engineer named Pillon. The interior of the fuselage was fitted with a small cabin for six to eight passengers seated below and directly behind the pilot. The engine was now a 450-hp Renault. A Nieuport 30 with a 420-hp Sunbeam Matabele engine was displayed at the Sixth Salon de Aeronautique between 19 December 1919 and 4 January 1920. The first Nieuport 30 had serial F-CGAT and entered service with Compagne General Transaerienne (CGT) in 1920. Six additional Nieuport 30 T.1s later joined the CGT fleet.


Nieuport 30T.1 with 450-hp Renault
   Span 13.50 m; length 10.80 m; height 4.20 m; wing area 65 sq. m
   Empty weight 1,500 kg; loaded weight 2,400 kg; payload 300 kg
   Maximum speed: 190 km/h; range 550 km; climb to 2,000 meters in 18 minutes
   Armament: none carried on transport version but the B2 specification required 300 kg of bombs
   Seven built with Sunbeam engine, one with 420-hp Darracq 12A