W.Green, G.Swanborough The Complete Book of Fighters
SPAD S.XXII France
The pilot's view from the cockpit of the S.VII and all its Bechereau-designed successors had been adversely criticised from 1916 onwards. In an attempt to remedy this defect, the S.XXII was evolved just as hostilities were drawing to a close. The design development was undertaken by Louis Bechereau, presumably by special arrangement or contract as he had left SPAD in the spring of 1917. The result was a single-seat fighter of highly unusual appearance. To improve downward view, the lower wing was attached well aft and given pronounced forward sweep and inverse taper towards the root. The three-spar upper wing had equally marked sweepback. Like preceding Bechereau single-seat fighters, the S.XXII had single-bay interplane bracing with intermediate struts. Power was provided by the 300 hp Hispano-Suiza 8Fb and armament consisted of twin 7,7-mm Vickers guns. As late as 29 November 1918, the prototype S.XXII had still to be assembled at Buc. This aircraft was completed in 1919 and flown, but the extent of flight testing has gone unrecorded and the design was taken no further in the post-Armistice period. Neither weights nor performance data are available.
Span, 26 ft 6 1/8 in (8,08 m).
Length, 20 ft 6 in (6,25m).
Wing area, 217.44 sq ft (20,20 m2).