For a new project, I always try to find something unusual. I prefer WW I aircraft and this time I selected a French Nieuport 24 sesquiplane, specifically, aircraft no. 4393 flown by MdL (Sgt.) André Loyseau de Grandmaison. He flew with the Escadrille N 561 based out of Lido field near Venice, Italy during the summer of 1917. I chose his plane because of its striking “winged Chimera” paint scheme.
DESIGN & PLANS
I started by importing Bergen Hardesty’s 3-view drawings from the December 1956 issue of Model Airplane News into CAD. I needed an 11-inch cowl to fit my engine, so I drew the plans to 27.5% scale. This produced an 87-inch wingspan, and the model is close enough to 1/4-scale to use commercially available accessories like machine guns and WW I wheels.
Construction is typical WW I design with balsa ribs, spars, stringers, and formers as well as lite-ply and aircraft plywood for load-bearing parts like the firewall, and strut and rigging wire hard points. The only change to scale is a thicker top wing to incorporate dual upper and lower main spars and wing-installed aileron servos. My Nieuport is intended for experienced builders, so I’ll just hit the highlights here. For more details, search for
