In 1916 the next generation of German wrestlers promised to win air supremacy over the Western Front. The French aircraft company, Socit pour l’Aviation et ses Drives (SPAD), answered by developing a replacement for its very successful SPAD VII. Fundamentally a bigger version of the SPAD VII with a more potent V-8 Hispano-Suiza engine, the prototype SPAD XIII C.1 ["C" designating Chasseur (fighter) and "1" indicating one aircrew] first flew in March 1917. With its 220-hp engine, the SPAD XIII reached a maximum speed of 135 miles per hour — about ten miles per hour quicker than the new German wrestlers. It carried 2 .303-cal. The machine guns are mounted above the engine and each gun had four hundred rounds of ammo, and the pilot could fire the guns separately or together. Continue reading →