Nieuport 12

To improve the performance of the Nieuport 10 a re-engined version was developed as the Nieuport 12 with a significantly enlarged upper wing. A Lewis gun was fitted to the rear cockpit for use by the observer, normally on an Etévé ring (known as the Nieuport ring in British service) although early examples used a pedestal mount or half ring. A second Lewis was sometimes fitted to fire over the top wing. Nieuport 12s built by Beardmore used by the Royal Flying Corps were sometimes fitted with a Scarff ring instead of the Nieuport ring, and a synchronized Vickers gun for the pilot. Additional modifications were made to those built by Beardmore. It could be fitted with either a Clerget, Clerget 9B engine or Le Rhône 9J mounted in the nose. ==Variants==

;Nieuport 12 A.2 :Two-seat fighter-reconnaissance biplane, powered by Clerget 9Z engine. or Le Rhône 9J. ;Nieuport 12bis C.2 :Revised version with Clerget 9B engine and streamlined side fairings. ;Nieuport 13 :Two prototypes with increased span but same nominal wing area as 12. One powered by a Hispano-Suiza 8, and the other by an Le Rhône 9C. ;Nieuport 20 :Version powered by Le Rhône 9J. Not used by France, but 21 delivered to Royal Flying Corps. All but first examples externally similar to 12bis. ;23 meter Nieuport :Unofficial generic designation for all types listed here based on nominal wing area of 23 square meters. ;Nieuport 80 E.2 and 81 E.2 :Nieuport 12s were later built in large numbers specifically as training aircraft with the gun ring removed. 8 in designation referred to Le Rhône 9C. These differed in having flight controls for just the pilot in the rear seat (81 E.2), or both pilot and passenger (80 E.2). ;Nieuport 12 (Beardmore) :Beardmore progressively redesigned the Nieuport 12 during a production run of 50 aircraft so early examples were almost stock but late production examples differed considerably in detail. These were fitted with Clerget 9Z and Clerget 9B rotaries. ;Mitsubishi Army Type 甲 1 (Ko 1) Trainer :Japanese designation for licence built Nieuport 81 E.2s. 57 built. ;Trainer Type 1 :Siamese designation for Nieuport 80 E.2. ;Sipowicz 1 :Polish experimental aircraft using lifting struts similar to the Wright-Bellanca WB-2. ==Operators==

Nieuport 12 built by Beardmore. Elevator stripes were a Beardmore trademark. ; • Argentine Naval Aviation – One aircraft in 1919 ; • Belgian Air Force ; • Chilean Air Force – One aircraft only. ; • Aéronautique Militaire ; • Estonian Air Force – Postwar. ; • Royal Hellenic Navy ; • Imperial Japanese Army Air Service – received 40 Nieuport 81 E.2 from France in 1919, supplemented with 57 licence-built aircraft. ; • Royal Flying Corps • No. 45 Squadron RFC • No. 46 Squadron RFC • No. 65 Squadron RFC • No. 84 Squadron RFC • Royal Naval Air Service • No. 7 Squadron RNAS • No. 10 Squadron RNAS ; • American Expeditionary Force ; :Workers' and Peasants' Air Fleet . ==Survivor==

A single ex-French Nieuport 12 is on display following an extensive restoration (including reinstalling the original Le Rhône 9J rotary engine) at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa in the late 1990s. This aircraft was donated to the Canadian Dominion Archives along with a Canon de 75 modèle 1897 cannon and an extensive collection of propaganda posters by the French Government in 1916 and was used for war bond drives until the 1918 flu pandemic resulted in it being placed in storage. In the late 1960s the Royal Canadian Air Force partially converted it into an RFC Beardmore example for display. ==Specifications (French-built Nieuport 12 A.2)==