Having exhausted all the possibilities for variations to the Type 17 airframe, Nieuport produced a totally new aircraft which it designated the Type 28. This marked a break from the V-strut sesquiplane configuration of the earlier Nieuport scouts, which was replaced by wings of almost equal proportion braced by parallel struts. The rectangular section fuselage was superseded by one of circular section, fitted around a new 160hp (119kW) Gnome-Le Rhone 9N engine. The Type 28 was ordered into production almost off the drawing board, but in service from March 1918 the Gnome engine proved to be its Achilles' heel, proving itself totally unreliable. A further failing was that at high speed any violent manoeuvre tended to rip the fabric from the upper wing. Notwithstanding these problems, the Type 28 happened to be the only fighter readily available to the US Expeditionary Force, the Pursuit Squadrons of which began arriving in France in early 1918.

Country of origin: France
Type: single-seat fighter
Powerplant: one 160hp (119kW) Gnome-Le Rhone 9N rotary piston engine
Performance: maximum speed 195km/h (121mph); service ceiling 5200m (1 7,060ft); range 400km (248 miles)
Weights: empty 532kg (11721b); maximum take-off weight 740kg (16311b)
Dimensions: span 8m (26ft 3in); length 6.2m (20ft 4in); height 2.48m (8ft 2in); wing area 20 sq m (215 sq ft)
Armament: two fixed forward-firing .303in Vickers machine guns

Text from: Biplanes, Triplanes, and Seaplanes by Michael Sharpe (Fiedman/Fairfax, 2000, ISBN: 1-58663-300-7), a handy book with specs for 300 aircraft.

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