Continuing the occasional series o
n the aircraft of Battlefield 1, we come back to the other Allied fighter available in the game, the SPAD S.XIII. Introduced in 1917, the SPAD S.XIII was one of the most built aircraft of the war, and was equipped by French, American, and a variety of other forces.
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| Photo via www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/ |
In America, the S.XIII is best known as being the preferred aircraft of the 94th Aero Squadron, and the aircraft in which top American aces Eddie Rickenbacker and Frank Luke scored the majority of their kills.
SPAD is short for Société Pour l’Aviation et ses Dérivés, a French aircraft manufacturer from 1911 to 1921. The S.XIII was its most successful design. Armed with two .303 Vickers machine guns, and powered by a 220hp Hispano-Suiza V8 engine, the SPAD S.XIII was known for its speed and durability. Faster and more powerful than the Sopwith Camel, and Fokker DR.I, the S.XIII was well suited to boom and zoom style attacks, rather than getting mixed up in turning fights with more maneuverable enemies.
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| SPAD S.XIII replica at the Seattle Museum of Flight. Photo credit: Seattle Museum of Flight |
Several examples of the SPAD S.XIII remain and are displayed in various museums in Belgium, France, and the United States. A number of other museums have replica variants. There are no known original flying examples, although a number of flying replicas exist.
Loehle Aircraft offers an 80% scale ultralight kit that can be built to resemble a SPAD S.XIII, Fokker D-VIII, or SE5A depending on preference. For a more historically accurate build, Replicraft offers 1/5 scale plans that have been successfully scaled up into full-size, flying replica aircraft.