- Yes
- No
About the interest of WW1 planes in War Thunder
Although it’s quite obvious that the performances of WW1 aircrafts are completely inadequate even for reserve air battles, I believe it could fit in the game as its own separate game mode, much like helicopters. Beyond that, the recent reveal of WW1 aircraft in the spin-off game Aces of Thunder shows that it’s not that far-fetched to bridge the gap between both games. So I certainly think these aircrafts are fair game.
About this aircraft and its interest in War Thunder
When it comes to WW1, the SPAD XIII is part of what I would call “The Holy Trinity” of famous aircrafts, with the Fokker Dr.I and the Sopwith Camel. Its performances made it one of the most, if not the most popular aircraft of the era, and you could find it in almost all Entente nations. It’s unthinkable not to see it added in this context.
History
The SPAD XIII is an evolution of the widespread and popular SPAD VII, which was one of the main aircraft of the French airforce in the middle of the Great War. Featuring a more powerful engine than it’s predecessor, two machineguns and one more fueltank, it also had a small bomb compartment. Its powerful engine allowed it to climb faster than almost any other aircrafts, and it kept a really good handling at high altitude and during dives, the last of which it excelled at. Its main drawback was its sluggish controls at low speed, which made it stall more easily than other aircrafts of the time.
Introduced to the battlefield late 1917, it quickly became the stuff of legends and became the favorite plane of many of the greatest aces of the war, such as Guynemer, Fonck, Rickenbacker or Baracca. Its wild popularity was only matched by its massive production rate, and at the end of the war, some 8000 aircrafts had been built. It was bought by many airforces in the world, including Spain, Greece, Japan, Italy, Brasil and many other. It was used up until the 1930’s when the quick technological strides made at the type quickly rendered it obsolete.
General Characteristics :
Empty Weight: 565 KG
Take-off Weight: 820 kg
Wingspan: 8.08m
Length: 6.25m
Height: 2.6m
Wing Area: 20.2m2
Engine: Hispano Suiza V8 - 8Ba –(220hp)
Maximum Speed: 220 km/h (sea level)
Service Ceiling: 6800 m
Endurance: 3h0min at cruise speed, 1h30 at combat speed (max 113l fuel capacity)**
Armament :
2 x 7.7mm Vickers mk.1 - 400 rpg
2 x 10kg bombs
Complementary informations and images
Bomb racks on the aircraft :
Various aces on SPAD XIII :
Francesco Barraca
Eddie Rickenbacker
René Fonck
Video of the Restored SPAD XIII S4377 in France :
Sources :
Spoiler
https://www.avionslegendaires.net/avion-militaire/spad-s-xiii/
Spad XIII "Smith IV" | National Air and Space Museum
SCHÜTZ Martin, KASAKOV Aleksandr, The SPAD XIII, vol.1 and 2
