Nieuport 28C-1

The French replaced these Nieuports with the superior Spads in WWI but fobbed them off on the Americans who had no home-grown fighters at the time. The Nieuport had an unfortunate habit of breaking its wings off in a dive, which the French would rather have the Americans deal with than themselves.

The Nieuport's engine was lubricated with castor oil, two gallons of it per hour, which was pumped to the engine which sprayed it out in a mist. The pilots wore goggles to keep the oil out of their eyes and a scarf to wipe the goggles off. Unfortunately, that did not keep the oil out of their mouths.

Castor oil is a laxative, the ingestion of which could suddenly and unexpectedly turn a fighter mission into a bomber mission. The Nieuport pilots took to drinking a preflight concoction of milk and brandy to firm up their bowels for air combat.

This particular Nieuport is a mongrel, patched together from five Nieuports of postwar vintage. It's painted in the colors of the 94th Aero Squadron, the "Hat In The Ring" squadron.