SPAD S.VII - Sixth entry, French Users.

We finish the series of entries dedicated to the SPAD S.VII with an entry dedicated to the native users of this excellent airplane and an update on the fourth entry just to update the American users, check the updated entry by clicking here.

First tested in April 1916 it showed an excelent speed (192km/h - 119 Mph) and a remarkable diving performance. Compared to their Nieuport 'rivals', it performed much better. It's rugged airframe made it much harder to shoot it down. However some pilots complained about it's lack of maneouvrability, compared to lighter airplanes like the Nieuport 17.

It arrived at the frontlines in August 1916 in small numbers. It wouldn't be until the first months of 1917 that it would be widely employed at the frontlines. The first versions had many defects, for instance the engine used to overheat in hot weather and didn't warm up in cold weather. Problems that were, generally, solved applying field modifications. For instance, many pilots flew without the engine cowling to make the engine cool down faster, while others flew with the cowling applied in order to make the engine warm faster, everything depending on the weather.

The second batch of airplanes, which solved many of the aforementioned problems, included an improved version of the engine which made the airplane to perform even better, raising it's top speed from 192km/h-119mph to 208 km/h- 129mph. Improvements that were gradually applied to new manufactured models and they became standard.