SPAD 7

From Wings of Linen
SPAD 7
Role Fighter
Manufacturer S.P.A.D.
Designer Louis Béchereau [1]
First flight April 1916[1][2] - July 1916 [3][4]
Introduction 7 Nov 1916 [3]
Primary users France
Italy
U.K. (RFC/RAF)
Belgium
Russia
U.S.A.
Greece
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Number built [note 1]
Wingspan 7.77 m (25 ft 6 in) [5][6]-7.82 m (25 ft 8 in)[2][4]
Engine 150hp Hispano-Suiza 8Aa vee or
180hp Hispano-Suiza 8Ab vee
Armament sync. fixed Vickers
Ammo 500 rounds[7] [note 2]
Crew 1
Max Speed 192 km/h (119 mph)[4]-193 km/h (120 mph)[8][9][10][5][6] - 198 km/h (123 mph)[2] [note 3]
Climb 2,000 m (6,560 ft) in 6:40[5][8][2]
3,000 m (9,840 ft) in 11:20[8][2]-11:30[5]
4,000 m (13,120 ft) in 18:00[2][note 4]
Ceiling 5,300 m (17,500 ft)[10][4] to 5,500 m (18,000 ft)[8][6][note 5]
Range 400 km (250 mi)[8]
Endurance 2:00[9] to 2:15[10][5][6] to 2:30[2][4] to 2:40 [8]

The SPAD 7 was designed to take advantage of the new 150hp Hispano-Suiza 8Aa engine. While there were teething problems when the SPAD 7 first appeared[note 6], they were quickly resolved and the SPAD 7 was found to be of strong construction and very fast in a dive. It was somewhat less maneuverable than the Nieuport 17, but this problem was mitigated when the plane was later refitted with the 180hp Hispano-Suiza 8Ab.

The SPAD 7 served with dozens of French escadrilles and flew with almost every Entente combatant. While it was anticipated they would all be replaced by SPAD 13s in 1918, limits in SPAD 13 production had the SPAD 7 holding out much longer through 1918 than desired.

Belgium purchased twenty-two; Greece sixteen; Poland and Serbia had several. Starting in March 1917 the SPAD 7 appeared in Italy and eventually equipped eight Squadriglia, but they were traded out for Hanriot H.D.1's or SPAD 13's over the first half of 1918. Several RFC and RNAS squadrons used the SPAD 7 beginning in October 1916 and used them until 1918. Russia obtained forty-three in early 1917. Several served in the civil war. [3] Dux built nearly one hundred SPAD 7's by the end of 1917 for Russia.[11] After the war, Czechoslovakia, Portugal, Romania, Ukraine obtained SPAD 7's. [3] The US Air Service used them in two squadrons: the 103rd (which replaced SPA 124, the Lafayette Escadrille) and the 139th. [12]

For more information, see Wikipedia:SPAD 7.

Timeline [note 7] [note 8]

Game Data

Wings of Glory

Official Stats
Version Availability Maneuver Damage Dmg Points Max Alt. Climb Points
normal nov16-mid18 B B 15 14 2 62
twin-gun B A 15 14 2 82

Plane and Crew Cards

Card Links

Blue Max/Canvas Eagles

Aircraft Chart

Miniatures and Models

1:144 Scale

1:285/6mm/1:288 Scale

1:350 Scale

Resources

Orthographic Drawings

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Total unknown, but 5600 were built in France.[1]
  2. ↑ Some carried only 350 rounds.[7]
  3. ↑ 212 km/h (132 mph) at 2,000 m (6,560 ft) with Hispano 8Aa/8Ab[4].
  4. ↑ Dux-built S7 with 150hp engine: 1,000 m (3,280 ft) in 2:30, 2,000 m (6,560 ft) in 5:30, 3,000 m (9,840 ft) in 9:00.[9]
  5. ↑ Dux-built S7: 6,000 m (19,700 ft) ceiling.[9]
  6. ↑ The viscosity of the radiator fluid was one concern, and the early troubles were only cleared by the efforts of Alfred Caquot in March 1917.[2]
  7. ↑ Plane counts are approximate and based of escadrille usage in Davilla'97.
  8. ↑ British usage numbers are approximate, derived from the squadron histories.[13]
Citations
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Angelucci, p.55.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Ferry'14, p.143.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Davilla, p.485.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Argus Vol. 2, p.47.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Lamberton, pp.216-217.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Angelucci, p.44.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kelly, p.230.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Davilla, p.493.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Durkota, p.358.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Munson, p.46.
  11. ↑ Durkota, p.356.
  12. ↑ Guttman'01, pp.78-87.
  13. ↑ Philpott'13, pp.379-444.
Bibliography
  • Enzo Angelucci, ed. The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, 1914-1980. New York: The Military Press, 1983 edition. ISBN 0-517-41021-4.
  • Argus Books, Airplane Archive: Aircraft of World War One, Volume 2. Great Britain: Argus Books, 1989. ISBN 0-85242-984-3
  • J.M. Bruce, Windsock Datafile 8: Spad 7.C1. Great Britain: Albatros Publications Ltd., 1988. ISBN 0-948414-12-X
  • Dr. James J. Davilla and Arthur M. Soltan. French Aircraft of the First World War. Flying Machines Press, 1997. ISBN 0-9637110-4-0.
  • Alan Durkota, Thomas Darcey, and Victor Kulikov. The Imperial Russian Air Service. Flying Machines Press, 1995. ISBN 0-9637110-2-4
  • Vital Ferry. French Aviation During the First World War. Paris: Histoire and Collections, 2014. ISBN 978-2-35250-370-5
  • John Guttman, SPAD VII Aces of World War 1. Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Limited, 2001. ISBN 1-84176-222-9
  • Kevin Kelly, "Belts and Drums: A Survey of First World War Aircraft Ammunition Totals". Over the Front, Vol. 5, No. 3, Autumn 1990. Walsworth Publishing Co, Inc. and The League of World War I Aviation Historians.
  • W.M. Lamberton and E.F. Cheesman, Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Great Britain: Harleyford Publications Limited, 1960.
  • Kenneth Munson, Fighters 1914-19, Attack and Training Aircraft. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1976. ISBN 0713707607
  • Ian Philpott, The Birth of the Royal Air Force. Great Britain: Pen & Sword Books Limited, 2013. ISBN 978-1-78159-333-2
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