Nieuport 18bis

By: Mike Muth

A technical report recently released by the Musee de la Air states that no rigging was necessary on this Nieuport scout since the extra-heavy dope used to acheive the "golden" wing color acted as a sufficient strengthener so that no flying wires were necessary. Apparently, this was not followed up by the Nieuport factory since Nungesser was the only pilot crazy enough to fly without rigging until the Fokker machines came around. There is some serious doubt being cast as to whether Fokker actually was the first to design a plane that didn't use rigging.