Nieuport 17 Scout - American Lafayette Squadron - French Air Force November 1916 - April1917

This Nieuport 17 is a full size flying reproduction and was built from 1992 to 1997 by Robert Gauld-Galliers and John Day. It had a film role in the 2006 film Flyboys – about the young American volunteers of the Lafayette Escadrille. It is powered by a Warner Scarab 7-cylinder radial engine – 165hp and is now owned and flown by John Gilbert. The aeroplane is one of several WW1 reproduction flying planes based at Stow Maries. The markings on this aeroplane are dedicated to N1977 of the Escadrille Lafayette, which was flown by Sergeant Robert Soubiran. Soubiran was an American aviator during World War One and was one of the first Americans to arrive in France in 1914, enlisting with the French Foreign Legion. He was one of 38 Americans who went on to join the Lafayette Escadrille. He later attained the rank of Major in the U.S. Air Force. The Nieuport single seat fighters were one of the great classic marques of the Great War. Designed by Gustave Delage, this well-proportioned French aeroplane was operated b