This is a replica of the original aircraft that's powered by a 7 cylinder, air cooled, radial Warner Scarab 165 engine (developing 165 h.p.), as opposed to a 110h.p. Le Rhône 9Ja 9 cylinder rotary engine or an upgraded 130 h.p. engine, that the original would have had.
The aircraft was constructed from 1992 to 1997 by Robert Gauld-Galliers and John Day. It's currently on the UK Civil register as G-BWMJ, owned by John Gilbert and flown as part of the WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust Collection. It is seen being flown at Old Warden Airfield, during the Shuttleworth Vintage Airshow 2020.

The aircrafts colour scheme is that of Nieuport 17 N.1977 and coded with a stylised 'S' - not an '8' as one might first think - of the World War One era French Army Air Force (then known as the Aéronautique Militaire), in service with Escadrille de Chasse N124; Escadrille means Squadron and this unit was made up of volunteer pilots from the United States of America, before the USA declared war on Germany.
The Escadrille was initially named 'Escadrille Américaine' and first deployed on 20th April 1916. The unit changed it's name to La Fayette Escadrille in December 1916 after the German Government objected that the original name implied America was allied to France in the war, rather than being neutral, as was officially the case until the USA declared war on Germany on 6th April 1917.

Nieuport 17 N1977 appears on La Fayette Escadrille's record of action from 23rd November 1916 until 3rd April 1917. Sergeant Robert Soubiran flew the aircraft on 24 of 27 flying days over this period.

Robert Soubiran, the son of Theodore and Clementine (Malapris) Soubiran, was born in France but grew up in New York City. As a young man, he had a knack for mechanical things and began maintaining and racing automobiles with Ralph de Palma, the winner of the 1915 Indianapolis 500.

On August 7, 1914, three days after Germany declared war against France, Soubiran enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in Paris among the first group of 43 American volunteers. He served in the Chemin des Dames sector with other future Lafayette Escadrille pilots James Bach, Bert Hall, Kiffin Rockwell, Paul Rockwell, and William Thaw. When the French became aware of his mechanical abilities, he was tasked to drive a threshing machine to harvest the wheat within the war zone.

Soubiran served with the 2nd Foreign Regiment in the Battle of Champagne and the 170th Line Infantry Regiment. He was injured in October 1915 and spent four months recovering in hospital. While there, he applied and was accepted into France's Aeronautique Militaire. He underwent aviation and gunnery training at Pau, Buc, and the G.D.E. earning his brevet on the Caudron on May 27, 1916 and graduating on October 20, 1916. He joined the Escadrille Americaine at Cachy in the Somme sector on October 22.

A year later, on November 9, 1917, Soubiran received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for action on October 17, 1917, when he received his first and only confirmed victory over an enemy aircraft. His award citation reads:

"An American enlisted since the beginning of the war in the Foreign Legion, where he took part in the combats in the Aisne in 1914 and in the Champagne attacks in 1915. Wounded 19 October 1915. Passed into the Aviation, he showed himself an excellent pilot, fulfilling with remarkable ardour the missions confided to him. 17 October 1917, while protecting an attack on Drachens, forced an enemy to land out of control."

Soubiran was transferred to the 103rd Pursuit Squadron as a Captain when the US entered the war. He flew combat patrols in the SPAD XIII. He was assigned as the 3rd Pursuit Group's Operations Officer. On August 20, 1918, he married Ann-Marie Choudey in Langres, France. On October 18, 1918, he was assigned back to the 103rd as the Commanding Officer and served there until the end of the war.

On April 9, 1919, France made Captain Soubiran a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur and also awarded a second Palm to his Croix de Guerre. His citation says -
"American citizen enlisted in August 1914 in the Foreign Legion. Was distinguished in the infantry (wounded in September 1915), then as a pilot in l'Escadrille Lafayette where he showed the highest qualities of courage and audacity."

Soubiran flew over 400 hours of combat in 23 months with the French Air Service and 10 months with the U.S. Air Service.

He had a penchant for personalizing his aircraft, starting with N1977, which had his initial in black, a thin blue fuselage stripe and a thick red one.
He photographed all aspects of life and death as an aviator during World War I and was responsible for the squadron's only complete photographic record.


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