Belgian Wings
Belgian Air Force, past and present.
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Spad S.VII C.1
Spad VII C.1 Sp 2 as used by pilot 1Sgt Robert Ciselet
Single engine - single seat fighter aircraft
The first Spad VII (of a batch of 15 such fighters) was delivered to the Belgian Air Service on 15 August 1917 and assigned to famous pilot Adj. Edmond Thieffry. The following day Thieffry already saw combat with his new mount when he shot down a Marineflieger Albatros near Zeebrugge. All Spad VII C.1 fighters were delivered to De Moeren based N° 5 Squadron (Comet) (later renamed N° 10 Squadron) and were registered from Sp 1 to Sp 15. Oddly enough a Spad VII sporting the out of sequence serial Sp 22 was shown after the war in the “Exposition des Avions de Guerre et du Materiel Aéronautique” organised in July 1919 (see below). Unfortunately it is not known up to now if a second batch of Spad VII C.1 aircraft was ordered. By 1923 all Spad VII C.1 fighters of the Belgian Air Service had been retired or replaced by the more advanced Spad XIII. (Daniel Brackx)
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Sp 1
History
C/N
-
Date In
Aug 1917
Date Out
Aug 1917
N° 5 Squadron (Comet) assigned to Adj. Edmond Thieffry, shot down on 31 Aug 1917 by Lt. Karl Hammers of Jasta 35 - Thieffry survived.
Sp 2
History
C/N
-
Date In
1917
Date Out
Nov 1917
N° 5 Squadron (Comet) assigned to Adj. Robert Ciselet, Shot down near Houtem after being attacked by 5 German Albatrosses. Ciselet killed.
Sp 3
History
C/N
-
Date In
1917
Date Out
-
N° 5 Squadron (Comet), fate unknown.
Sp 4
History
C/N
-
Date In
1917
Date Out
-
N° 5 Squadron (Comet), fate unknown.
Sp 5
History
C/N
-
Date In
1917
Date Out
1918
N° 5 Squadron (Comet), fate unknown. assigned to Adj Max Orban.
Sp 6
History
C/N
-
Date In
1917
Date Out
1917
N° 5 Squadron (Comet) assigned to Adj. Edmond Thieffry, crash landing at Oostkerke , Pilot Thieffry safe.
Sp 7
History
C/N
-
Date In
1917
Date Out
-
N° 5 Squadron (Comet), fate unknown.
Remark
Up to now, a single order for a batch of 15 Spad VII C.1 fighters is documented. These aircraft received the registration numbers Sp 1 to Sp 15. It is therefore somewhat odd that a Spad VII sporting the out of sequence serial Sp 22 was photographed at the “Exposition des Avions de Guerre et du Materiel Aéronautique” organized at Evere airfield (near Brussel) in July 1919. This could indicate a second batch or was it an aircraft specially assembled for the static display of this large event?
Photo slider with Belgian Air Service Spad VII C.1 Pilots
