History
Windsock Datafiles has probably become the premier publisher of detailed studies of specific World War I vintage aircraft, and they have recently branched out into aircraft subjects about which little has been published before. This publication is no exception, as the Spad VII and XIII, while famous in French, American, and other services, was also used by the Italians, although not in great numbers, and many were kept in postwar use until the mid twenties. Although the first French Spads were sent to Italy in 1917, the Italians declined to produce the plane in Italy and imported limited numbers from France, some without engines, rather than relying on Italian production which was often inadequate. As a result, other fighter types provided the majority of combat aircraft for Italian fighter units although the type was used until 1924, and many civilian examples were flown well into the thirties.