Before the United States entered World War I American pilots volunteered to fly in the American Escadrille (soon renamed the Lafayette Escadrille) with the Allied forces in France. During 1915 the Nieuport 11 was the premier fighter aircraft in the world. The Noon Patrol's replica Nieuport 11 aircraft will be painted like those of the Lafayette Escadrille to honor those brave pilots.

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In the summer of 1999 some members of EAA chapter 292 in Independence Oregon talked about how much fun it would be to build and fly a group of World War I fighter replicas like the Kansas City Dawn Patrol. We thought that only four or five guys would follow through but we were wrong -- thirteen guys with checks showed up when it was time to make a commitment.