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The SPAD S.XIII was a French biplane fighter aircraft of World War I, developed by Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés from the earlier highly successful SPAD S.VII. It was one of the most capable fighters of the war, and one of the most-produced, with 8,472 built and orders for around 10,000 more cancelled at the Armistice.
The S.VII had entered service in September of 1916 but by early 1917 it had been surpassed by the latest German scouts, leading French ace, Georges Guynemer, to lobby for an improved version. SPAD designer Louis Béchereau produced first the S.XII , which had limited success, and finally the S.XIII.
The S.XIII differed from its predecessor by incorporating a number of aerodynamic refinements, larger wings and rudder, and a more powerful Hispano-Suiza engine, all leading to a great increase in performance. It was faster than its main contemporaries; the Sopwith Camel and Fokker D.VII, and renowned for its ruggedness, however its manoeuvrability was inferior, especially at low speeds. A high glide angle made it a difficult aircraft for novice pilots to land safely.
It first flew on April 4April 4 is the 94th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (95th in leap years). There are 271 days remaining. Events 1581 Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. 1721 Sir Robert Walpole enters office as 1917 and the following month was already being delivered to French Army air units. Other Allied forces were quick to adopt the new fighter as well, and nearly half of the 893 purchased for the USAAC were still in service in 1920This is a list of aviation-related events from 1920: Events February February 1 the South African Air Force is established as an independent air arm. February 4 Pierre van Ryneveld and Quentin Brand set out in a Vickers Vimy from Cairo to cross Africa by. It was also exported to JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh, PolandThe Republic of Poland a country in Central Europe, lies between Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and Russia (in the form of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) t and CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia ( Czech: Ceskoslovensko Slovak: Cesko-Slovensko before 1990 Ceskoslovensko ) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1992 (except for the World War II period). On January 1, 1993, it peacefully split into the Czech Repu after the war.